Armi e Nastri
by alchemicmonkey
Summary: High school brings many new things: a new life, new friends...and a new enemy? The Mews team up against an ancient demon, but not without the aid of two new partners... and the first male Mew Mew?
1. Prologue: When Demons Awaken

_Prologue: When Demons Awaken_

The ground shook with laughter, the deep sound echoing off the stone walls of the cavern deep inside the earth. The walls, normally a dull slate grey color, were streaked black by water trickling down them in veins.

"Abdi-Ili, come here," the laughing voice commanded.

"yes, Lord Nergal?" a boy who looked no older than fifteen appeared in a puff of dark green smoke, his orange streaked black hair shining in the light emitted by the crystals growing out of the cavern's walls and floors. His ice-blue eyes flicked up to gaze upon the figure before him, shrouded in the dark purple of royalty.

"Both the aliens and the Saint Rose Crusaders have been defeated. Do you know what that means?" Nergal stated, his deep voice booming and resounding off the walls, amplifying the sound.

"Our time now?" Abdi-Ili grinned, showing sharp fangs.

"Our time has come!" Nergal boomed, raising his hand in the air. Hordes of misshapen demons raised their voices in agreement and joy. After four millennia of darkness they would be able to roam their planet once again. And they were going to rid the planet of the humans that used to be their slaves and had taken over their planet like the greedy, vain things they are.

* * *

"Wow, what a cute café!" a boy with dark black hair and green eyes said. "Nova, come look at this!" he cried, pointing in front of him. A girl with orange hair and steely grey eyes joined him, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her red and black striped hoodie.

"Honestly, Dustin, you're gayer then Peter Pan on a pair of ice skates sometimes," she sniffed, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Dustin looked to Nova with puppy-dog eyes, clasping his hands together.

"Oh, can we go in, please!" he begged.

"No," she replied firmly.

"Nova, please!" he groveled, throwing himself on the ground and clinging tightly to her leg. "Please! I've gone everywhere in Tokyo you want to go; can't we go somewhere I want?"

"Would you look at yourself? You're making a scene! We're gonna be living here in Tokyo, why can't you go after school or something? You know I hate frilly, wimpy crap like that!" she protested hotly, trying to step out of his iron grip and sort of dragging him across the ground. "I don't understand why my parents let you come along with me while I study in Japan, let alone your parent's reasons."

"Oh please, Nova! It's our last day before school starts! I might be able to make some friends there, leaving you alone to brood about leaving America," he said in a sing-song tone.

"Alright," she sighed. "Now would you let go of me?"

Dustin hopped up and grabbed Nova's hand, dragging her towards the café.

* * *

"Those are the new genes?" Keiichiro asked as he entered the room, carrying two cups of tea. He handed one to Ryou, who accepted it and nodded.

"Philippine eagle and Darwin's fox. I think they'll be helpful, just in case," the blond replied, taking a sip of apple tea sweetened with cinnamon.

"In case of what?" Lettuce asked, bringing in a mop and a bucket of soapy water. The entire building shook as an earthquake erupted suddenly. Out in the dining room, Berry and Tasuku clung to one another in fear. Mint fretted about Zakuro, who as usual was saying it was nothing major, just another earthquake. Ichigo grabbed Pudding from her perch on a table and waited for the quake to pass. The pink mew feared that the ground would split open and consume the city, the quake lasted so long.

Ryou gasped suddenly and spun around. That was odd, there was no one in the room but himself, Keiichiro, and Lettuce. But he could've sworn he heard someone laughing, a deep and maniacal laugh that frightened him to his very core.

* * *

"Whoa," Dustin commented as the earthquake fizzled away into nothing. Nova released her iron grip on his sweater and regained her composure. "Nothing like that back in Ohio."

"No shit, Sherlock. Ohio is completely inland; Japan is a little rinky-dink island along the Ring of Fire. Of course there are earthquakes here," she said in a 'know-it-all' tone.

"The Ring of Fire is for volcanoes, not earthquakes," Dustin smirked. Nova rolled her eyes and glared at him, practically kicking open the door to the girly café and storming inside. Ah, but her mood swings were one of the reasons he liked her. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his green cargo pants and sauntered in after her.


	2. 1:Enemies and Allies

_1: Enemies and Allies_

Ichigo turned around as she heard the door open.

"Welcome to the café!" Pudding exclaimed, leaping in front of the new customers. "Wanna see my performance?"

"No, I'm gone," a girl with wavy orange hair and a black and red striped sweater tried walking back out the door she had all but kicked open.

"No, no, no, you promised…" a boy with black hair chided, grabbing her hood and dragging her inside. "Table for two please," he said in perfect Japanese.

"Aw, Dustin! You know I hate crap like this!" the orange-haired girl whined, clawing for the door.

"You know, you're a terrible girl," the boy, Dustin, commented as he pushed her towards a chair. "Girls are supposed to love stuff like this," he spread his arms, indicating the entire café. Lettuce came to take their order and he stood up. "See? Isn't this outfit cute? Hi, I'm Dustin."

"Only for you, Gayman…" she scoffed, leaning back in the chair and propping her feet on the table.

"Um, could you not do that, please?" Lettuce asked shyly. She watched as the girl rolled her eyes but obliged. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have apple tea and a strawberry parfait," Dustin smiled.

"Something with lots of chocolate, I guess…" the girl sighed. "Preferably dark chocolate, if it's not too much trouble."

"Right away," Lettuce nodded.

"Welcome!" Mint greeted another customer as they entered the café. She blinked a few timed before realizing that the boy standing in the entryway was real. He had flawless skin that was beautifully pale, with ice blue eyes and black hair streaked with a deep orange around his face.

"Hello, I'm looking for my friends," the boy smiled. Mint felt her cheeks heat up slightly at his charming smile. "I believe they arrived a few moments ago. A boy with black hair and a girl with orange hair."

"Oh, you mean the couple in the corner?" Ichigo asked, pointing to the two mentioned people.

"Yes, that's them. Thank you very much, miss. And since you have been so kind, I'll introduce you to my other friends," he smirked, raising his hands. Black puddles appeared on the polished floor, bubbling and spreading. Black, misshaped humanoid forms emerged from them, wicked grins on their featureless faces.

"Girls, let's go!" Ryou cried.

"What's going on?" Dustin cried, brushing a black thing off his arm.

"Brilliant idea, genius! Great place to pick!" Nova hissed, grabbing his wrist and dragging him away from the black things. The two ducked inside a hallway, Nova hoping to find an emergency exit. They emerged in a room with a strange statue in the middle.

"Hey, this is for employees only!" a man with long brown hair tied back in a pony tail said.

Bright light flashed, blinding the two Americans and making Keiichiro stare. Dustin opened his eyes slightly to see an eagle made out of light hovering before him. Before he could think the eagle dissipated and the particles went inside him. It was a wonderful feeling, sort of warm and fuzzy. He let his eyes close as the warm bliss overpowered him.

"Geh! What the heck is this?" he heard Nova exclaim disgustedly. He opened his eyes to see her wearing a skintight silver miniskirt and bikini-style top, trimmed with orange frills that matched her hair. Dark orange fox ears protruded from her head and a fox tail twitched behind her in nerves and shock. Her fingerless-gloved hands touched the outfit and animal parts carefully. "What are you wearing?"

He glanced down at himself. He was wearing tight-fitting black pants trimmed with gold ribbons and a cropped top in the same color scheme that exposed his stomach. A large gold ribbon was tied around his neck. He cautiously fingered the bow with his gloved fingers, more gold ribbons spilling from the gloves wrists.

"Wow…" he breathed.

"Dustin, you have wings and a tail!" Nova cried, pointing incriminatingly at him. He glanced over his shoulder to see a pair of wings that resembled spilled oil in a parking lot: black but shimmering rainbow colors in the light. The feathery tail was the same color.

"Keiichiro, I n…" a blond boy burst into the room, a cut on his arm bleeding. "What happened in here?"

"It appears we have new teammates," Keiichiro smiled, gesturing at the awe-struck Dustin and panicking Nova. "The gold and silver Mew Mews."

"Mew Mew?" Dustin repeated. Weren't the Mew Mews the super-girls he saw an article about in the newspaper that morning?

"You've got to be joking!" Nova barked, her ears standing up straight. "There's no way in heck I'm gonna fight monsters as some sissy superhero!" she stormed out of the room.

"Ribbon Double Berry Check!" a girl in a pink outfit and a girl in a white outfit cried. The light generated by the supposed attack bounced off the mass of black humanoids like a basketball off the ground.

"They're too strong for us!" a girl in green whimpered.

"Woo hoo! I'm riding a shadow!" a small girl in yellow whooped.

"Pudding, get down from there!" the girl in pink snapped.

"Geh!" Nova blanched. The sight of six girls in frilly outfits was a bit too much for her. "Sickening!"

"Who are you?" the tall girl in purple demanded.

"I'm… I'm…" Nova hesitated, trying not to say the words worming their way into her brain. "I'm Mew Nova and I'm going to dish out one major butt-kicking to relieve my stress!" she blurted, striking a pose with one leg bent at the knee and her hands curled up near her face.

"Mew Nova?" the girl in white repeated.

"Agh! What the heck is wrong with me? What the heck am I talking about?" she screeched, slamming her head into a nearby table.

"Nova!" she heard Dustin cry out over the din of the battle. She turned around to see a large black monster looming over her, maw open wide and dripping saliva. "Ribbon Golden Symphony!" a blast of gold and black light pierced the beast's belly, shredding it to pieces what evaporated into the air.

"Dustin!" she cried, pointing at said person. He carried a gold and black electric guitar and had a stupid grin plastered on his face. "What are you doing?"

"Saving your skin, that's what!" he said, strumming the strings as if to prove a point. She continued pointing, this time behind him. "Hm?"

"Ribbon Silver Bullet!" she barked, magically whipping out twin guns and firing small bullets made out of silver light. "Okay, I've got guns. I might be able to pull this off just this once," she sighed as another monster evaporated.

"Ribbon Strawberry Check, Level Up!" the girl in pink cried, thrusting her arms out and pink light shooting from the heart-shaped thing in her hands.

"We better get moving," Dustin grinned, grabbing Nova around the waist and flying into the air, making her screech in fear. "Just shoot at the monsters, kay?"

"No way! Put me down!" she struggled against him. "I told you I didn't want to come in here; now look what's happened!"

"Nova…" he warned.

"Ribbon Silver Bullet!" she snarled, firing her guns at another monster. The last one evaporated and the others sighed in relief.

"Yeah! New partners!" the small yellow one cheered, throwing her arms in the air.

"Say what?" Nova cried. Dustin accidentally forgot he was holding her and threw his arms in the air as well.

"Careful," a gentle voice said as strong arms caught her. "Foxes don't fly, you know."

"I… um… heh…" she stammered, unable to think. The man had long brown hair, shiny grayish-brown eyes and the most charming smile.

"Are you alright?" he inquired, looking at her curiously. She felt something warm and wet running down across her lips and pressed a hand to them. She pulled it away to reveal fresh blood.

"I'm fine!" she laughed nervously, covering the lower half of her face and letting blood pool in her palm. "Just dandy!" she chirped unnaturally, swinging her arms around randomly and flinging blood across the room. She chuckled weakly and collapsed against Keiichiro's chest.

"Nova!" Dustin exclaimed landing neatly on the table and rushing over to her.

"She'll be fine, it's just the sudden shock," a female voice said suddenly, making him jump. He spun around to see a girl with red hair and a red waitress uniform addressing him. "My name's Ichigo Momomiya. I guess this means you'll be working with us from now on."

"I'm Dustin Leary. This is my cousin Nova," he said awkwardly. "Um… how do I…" he gestured at his outfit.

"Think about returning to normal," the girl in a purple uniform said blandly. Quicker than he would've thought, he was no longer wearing his black and gold outfit but was in his T-shirt and cargo pants.

"Wow, super cool," he grinned. "So, who do I ask about what that was?"

"That was my introduction, dear friends," an icy voice smirked. Everyone turned to see the boy with orange and black hair standing in the corner, his back ramrod straight as if he had been brought up to be a prince. Instead of a smart green dress shirt and black slacks, he wore a deep purple suit with a black shirt and blood red tie. One hand was clenched around the edge of a long cape with scalloped edges, making it resemble bat's wings, and the other was hovering over his heart.

"Who are you?" the girl in blue with black hair buns demanded.

"I am servant to Lord Nergal, supreme ruler of this planet and soon to be your master. You may call me Abdi-Ili, Tokyo Mew Mew," he sneered. "Now that your previous enemies have left, and the four millennia-long seal has weakened enough, my Lord and Master shall be able to rise once again from the grievous downfall he suffered so long ago. Sit back and watch as his demon minions evoke the curse he placed on this planet's people and your thriving civilization crumbled beneath your feet!" he cackled, vanishing into a black puddle on the floor that vanished within seconds.

"Another enemy?" the redhead, Ichigo, sighed.

"Things were so peaceful…" the girl in blue added wistfully.

"You're right, Mint," a girl with green hair and glasses agreed. "I was so looking forward to starting high school without having to fight all the time…"

"Our powers didn't leave our bodies after beating the Saint Rose Crusaders so it's only natural to assume we have another enemy to fight against," the tall girl in purple mumbled.

"And our new buds gave us a major power boost!" the energetic small one added, swinging from a rope. "I'm Pudding Fong!"

"My name's Lettuce Midorikawa. It's nice to meet you, Dustin," she struggled with the foreign name a bit.

"I am Mint Aizawa," the girl with the hair buns said regally.

"Zakuro Fujiwara…" the tall one muttered, tossing a lock of hair over her shoulder.

"My name is Ryou Shirogane. This is Keiichiro Akasaka," a teenage boy with blond hair and blue eyes nodded to the man with long brown hair.

"I'm Tasuku Meguro and this is my Berry!" a younger boy announced, hugging the girl in the white uniform, making her blush.

"Right… Dustin and Nova," Dustin repeated lamely, pointing to his unconscious cousin. "We're from Cleveland, Ohio."

"Like… America Ohio?" Ichigo inquired. "What are you doing in Japan? Are you on vacation? Your Japanese is really good."

"We're going to school here starting tomorrow," Dustin grinned. "Well, she is. I just tagged along for the ride."

"I'm going to give her an antibiotic so she can get back to normal," Keiichiro announced. He jerked his head slightly, indicating for Ryou to come with him.

The two men entered the back room, Keiichiro setting Nova on the table gently. He busied himself with assembling a syringe filled with clear antibiotic.

"What happened? I thought only girls could become Mews," the pastry chef asked as he removed the American's left glove. He absently traced the mark on her palm with his fingers. Bad attitude aside, she was rather pretty. He wiped the skin of her wrist clean and injected her with the syringe.

"I don't know. Perhaps it was just compatible with him, like how Berry was fused with two genes. That's the only logical answer I can come up with," the blond shrugged, absently fingering the thick collar around his neck.

"Regardless of compatibility, we have a new enemy and it looks like we have new Mews just in time. We need to make sure they stick together in case of an attack," Keiichiro said as Nova changed back to normal.

"What do you suggest?" Ryou sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Enroll everyone in the school Nova and Dustin are going to attend. It's not simple or cheap to move to another country for school; I don't think their parents would like a last minute school change. And have the Americans start working here," the elder man decided firmly.

"Alright, I guess I'll get to work," Ryou huffed, walking away to go upstairs and muddle through everything away from his hyperactive employees.

"Ugh, my head… I feel like I have a hangover…" Nova groaned, slowly propping herself up on her elbows and rubbing her head. She glanced around the room, wondering what had happened.

"Feel better?" a male voice asked. Nova whirled around to face the owner, nearly blacking out from the sudden movement. "Easy…" strong arms caught her and steadied her, gently easing her back onto the table.

"Who are you and what kind of drugs did you give me?" she asked, her voice croaky.

"It was just something to help you change back to normal. And my name is Keiichiro Akasaka. Please entrust me with your destiny," he replied, kissing her hand.

"Say what?" she asked. She had meant it to be shocked and slightly disgusted, but it came out weak and perhaps a bit confused. "I-I have to go. I start school tomorrow and I need sleep."

"Interesting…" he mused out loud, watching her orange hair bounce as she ran down the hall.

"It's so cute!" Dustin exclaimed. He was wearing the same black and white uniform Tasuku wore, only a few sizes bigger, consisting of black slacks, a black vest, a white shirt and a large bow tie. "Ah, Nova, look!"

"Oh god…" she muttered, pressing a hand to her forehead. "No, I've had enough of this crazy stuff. Nice to meet you all, but I'm not going to become some frilly girly superhero and go around zapping aliens."

"Aw, but we have to! The DNA already bonded with us and there's no going back," Dustin whined as Nova grabbed his collar and began hauling him out the door. "We have to stop Lord Nergal! You can't walk away from your destiny Nova!"

"What an interesting couple," Pudding commented after the Americans had left.

"They're completely different. Are they sure they're related?" Lettuce inquired thoughtfully.

"That doesn't matter. Dustin seems more than willing to accept this, but Nova is the complete opposite. I wonder if all American girls are like her," Ichigo jumped in. "Fighting this Nergal guy will be harder without her, even if we do have Dustin helping us."

"Ichigo…" Mint started. "Could it be that you like Dustin?"

"W-w-what?" the redhead stammered, her face flushing. "N-no! We just met; I don't like him. Besides, I have Masaya!" she punched the air. Still, the dark haired American was slightly intriguing… she self consciously lifted a hand to her burning cheeks, her cat ears flattening against her head. There was no way she would fall for the American _like that_. She had Masaya… she shouldn't even be thinking about such things! Moreover, she had a new enemy to worry about… and something much bigger…

"Tomorrow we start high school!" she squeaked, just realizing the historic event. "Man, what a way to kick off the school year…"


	3. 2:Enter, Ishtar

_2: Enter, Ishtar_

"This school is so common…" Mint mumbled the next morning. She glanced down at the drab sailor style school uniform, twirling the dark blue fabric of the skirt between her thumb and forefinger. "And its co-ed too…"

"Quit complaining," Zakuro chided, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "You can't expect us to attend an all girl school when one of us in a boy."

"Talking about me?" Dustin slapped Mint's back hard, announcing his presence. The rich girl doubled over on her knees and coughed, trying to get air back into her lungs.

"Wow, is that an American greeting?" Pudding inquired eagerly. She wasn't entering high school just yet, but came with Keiichiro and Ryou to send the others off.

"Sure thing Pudding," the teen grinned, slapping her similarly. She giggled and slapped him back.

"Get moving, retard!" Nova's voice cut in sharply. Dustin squeaked and flopped forwards, holding his butt.

"You don't have to kick me!" he whined. "There's nothing wrong with talking to our new friends!"

"He has a point you know," Ichigo nodded.

"The sooner you accept your destiny the better!" Berry added. "And you don't need to be so mean; he's just being nice."

"Listen princess, I don't need any of your 'love saves the earth' and 'peace on earth' and other wimpy crap like that, okay? Keep your distance and you keep your head," Nova snarled before storming off down the halls.

"What's eating her?" Ichigo sniffed.

"Oh, she's just upset over yesterday. You know, jet lag, moving stress, finding out she has to save the earth from some demon lord, taking an ice cold shower because I used all the hot water. The usual stuff," Dustin shrugged. "She'll come around in time."

"Hey, this is our classroom!" Tasuku exclaimed, pointing to the door to room 1-C.

"Look at all this fresh meat!" a loud voice chuckled. "Hi there, first years!" a large teenager, more flab than muscle, strode down the hallway, pushing his way through the team. "Mmm… you look delectable…" he mumbled, throwing a meaty arm around Lettuce's slender shoulders. Faster than lightning, he was rolling across the polished floor.

"If you have something to say to my friends, you'll have to clear them through me from now on," Nova growled, cracking her knuckles and grinning evilly.

"Oh… you must be the American girl I've heard about," the meaty teen leered. "I like foreign food."

"How about a sandwich d'knuckles?" she offered darkly, glaring down at the teen. "I don't care what policy the school has about fighting; I'll take you down faster than Starbucks can whip up a hot white chocolate mocha and I can tell you I'll enjoy every minute of it."

The meaty teenager scooted away, his string-bean friends helping him off the floor before the three bolted down the hallway.

"Alright zoo crew, listen up!" the orange haired American snapped. "If any upperclassmen try to mess with any of you, you come and tell me and I'll beat them senseless. Got it?"

"Y-yes!" everyone quipped, except Dustin. He just stood there with a smirk on his face.

"What on earth was that?" Ryou asked suddenly, making his appearance known. He and Keiichiro had been standing by in case the situation turned sour, though it most certainly had not.

"That was the true color of Nova. She has a bad attitude on the outside, but when it comes down to it, she'll stand by you like there was no tomorrow and protect you until six months after her death. That's just the kind of girl she is," Dustin sighed fondly, gazing at his cousin's slowly receding figure.

"Interesting…" Keiichiro muttered, partially to himself. He felt himself smile as he heard her sharp voice echo through the halls, describing the brute that came onto Lettuce.

Ichigo stared at Dustin, captured by the love and adoration in his green eyes. She had never seen such emotions in a person's eyes before, not even Masaya's. What did one have to go through to carry such emotions, and in such large quantities? Surely they had had some past experience where one of them had been saved by another. It made the most sense.

She opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by the shrill ringing of the bell, signaling the beginning of class. She watched as Nova held the door open for the team. A few boys in the class started making comments about the group of girls entering the room, but a swift glare from the American girl silenced them. Ichigo giggled silently to herself; Nova could be quite the friend, if she could just get past that attitude.

* * *

"An assistant?" Abdu-Ili blanched momentarily. He was Lord Nergal's highest ranking officer! He needed no assistant!

"You're far too old to enter the high school as a student, and I fear you'd attack the students before giving a lesson if I secured you a position as a teacher," Nergal chuckled good naturedly. His light mood shifted suddenly, growing somber and dark.

"Very well, my Lord," Abdu-Ili resigned.

"Ishtar," Nergal called. In a puff of black smoke, a lovely demon woman appeared. Her dark brown hair was offset by skin so pale it was white and sharp blue eyes quickly scanned the room. She swept into a deep curtsy, holding out the edges of her black knee-length skirt in her slender hands. The tribal tattoo covering half her neck stood out distinctly.

"My Lord," she said, her voice rich and sticky like honey. Abdu-Ili forced himself to maintain an emotionless expression, though mentally he was grimacing. Ishtar was probably the most vain and selfish demon under Nergal's thumb. Everything she did was in some way for her own benefit. Abdu-Ili thought she was as bad as the humans sometimes, always scheming to get what she wanted and not caring what happened to others. It was disgusting.

"Ishtar, starting this afternoon you will be enrolled at K High School as a second year student. I need you to keep an eye on the Mew Mews," Nergal sighed boredly, as if assigning jobs was as mundane as working on lost luggage.

"I understand, My Lord," Ishtar smirked, showing sharp canines. The tattoo on her neck, an intricate weaving that formed a butterfly, shimmered like red and black glitter had been dumped on it and stuck there with super glue. "May I attack them?" she asked innocently, playing with a lock of hair.

"No, leave that to Abdu-Ili," Nergal said firmly. Ishtar pouted but said nothing more. "Your job is surveillance. Watch them, and let us know what they are up to."

"As you wish," she curtsied again, bowing her head to hide her scowl. Of course the pansy would get to attack the zoo animals.

"Make sure to check the number of Mews. Last I heard there were six: pink, blue, green, yellow, purple and white, but Abdu-Ili claims to have seen a gold Mew and a silver Mew, one of them a boy. Investigate this," Nergal commanded. Ishtar nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke, materializing in the schoolyard, her black dress replaced by the generic sailor-style uniform. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and made her way to the second year classrooms.

"What are you doing? Everyone is supposed to be at the opening ceremony," a teacher demanded, pushing thick-rimmed glasses up his freckled nose.

"I was just heading there. I think I got a bit lost," she said wistfully. "I transferred in from another school, I'm afraid I'm just not familiar with this campus."

"I'll escort you," the teacher offered.

"Thank you," Ishtar smiled, red liquid spreading from where her feet rested on the floor and slowly snaking up the man's legs. He gasped faintly and his eyes dilated as the red liquid seeped into his body. "Now be a good little slave and add my name to the roster so this doesn't happen again, m'kay?"

"Yes…" he mumbled, shuffling away down the hall.

"Excellent," Abdu-Ili's voice commented through her communicator disguised as an earring. "They're all at the opening ceremony. Find them and do a quick head check before we attack."

"Whatever," she sniffed, pulling out a compact of thick cover-up and applying the white powder to her neck, covering her tattoo so well it was as if she had never had one. She breezed through the empty hallways to the courtyard, where the ceremony was taking place. Ishtar pushed her way through the crowd, earning glares from several people. She looked around for Abdu-Ili and nodded when he caught her eye. She saw him smirk and raise his hands, summoning his demonic minions.

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" Nova asked to the girl's sudden gasp and stiffening of posture.

"Something feels wrong," she muttered, shaking her head and making her red half-ponytails smack against her head. "Maybe it's nothing."

A piercing shriek broke the dull ramblings of the various teachers, causing the leaves in the trees to stir.

"I don't think it's nothing, Ichigo," Mint commented, watching as a girl with almost abnormally pale skin pushed through the crowd, more black beasts from yesterday attacking her.

"Pudding Ring Inferno!" a sharp cry overpowered the frantic students' screaming. Several demons were quickly burnt up.

"Let's go guys," Ichigo smirked as they all ducked behind the stage. "Mew Mew Strawberry Metamorphosis!"

Light flashed and moments later seven Mews stood ready for battle.

"Where's Nova?" Berry asked, looking around. The silver Mew was nowhere to be seen.

The aforementioned Mew was in fact still where the group had been standing when the ceremony had been interrupted. Not that she could move; the pale girl who was attacked by the demons had transformed before her very eyes the moment she collapsed against the American and her touch had left the Mew paralyzed, unable to move even the slightest bit, such as blinking.

"Can you move?" the pale girl inquired sweetly. "Excellent," her voice turned to poison when Nova gave no reply. She made faint rasping sounds. "Oh, can't you breathe? Don't worry, that will pass… when you die…!"

The pale girl reared back, screaming in pain and clutching her shoulder. Her blue eyes cast a livid glare in the direction of the attack that caused the wound that took away from her skin's perfection. Nova collapsed on the ground, gasping for air and trying to get the substance into her lungs faster than it would go.

"That's far enough, demon-girl!" Ichigo's voice cried out strongly. Through eyes clouded with brimming tears, Nova could see the Mew Mews standing around her. The one in purple… Zakuro… was kneeling down beside her and helping her sit up.

"Transform when Lettuce attacks," the wolf-girl muttered. Nova blinked and nodded, desperately hoping this was some weird dream and that she'd wake up on the plane to Japan. There was no way this could be real.

"For hurting a girl who barely knows this country and is trying her best to make do, we're going to make you pay!" Ichigo and Berry chanted, striking identical poses. Ishtar felt Abdu-Ili summon more demons from behind her and clenched her teeth so hard she wondered if they would break.

Lettuce stepped forward from the group, extending her hands, "Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"

"Yeah!" Pudding pumped a fist in the air as a couple demons evaporated. "no, help me guys!" her cry of victory changed to one of panic as a fairly large demon picked her up off the ground and held her aloft, opening its mouth to drop her inside like a piece of candy.

"Ribbon Golden Symphony!"

"Ribbon Silver Bullet!"

"Yay, I'm saved!" Pudding exclaimed happily as the demon evaporated and Dustin caught her.

"Tokyo Mew Mew!" the pale girl growled, the ornate tattoo on her neck glowing a brilliant blood-red. "So there are eight of you after all. I guess Abdu-Ili wasn't lying about there being a gold and silver Mew Mew."

"Abdu…" Nova repeated. She clenched her teeth together and snarled, "You're allied with that demon?"

"Unfortunately, yeah, I am. My boss only let me come outside if I agreed to be his assistant. Naturally I didn't deny him, but when he told me not to attack you, I simply had to," she grinned, running her pinkie finger across her bottom lip as her tongue flecked out across them. In a soundless puff of black smoke, she vanished, reappearing silently beside Dustin.

"What are you…" he started, cut of when she placed a hand over his mouth.

"You look delicious… I think I'm going to have to eat you up…" she lilted, leaning her faced closer to his and standing on her toes so she could reach.

"You lay one finger on Dustin and I swear to whatever god exists I'll wipe your sorry ass off this planet," Nova snarled, struggling against Mint and Berry, who were holding her back. Her ears perked up and she looked around. She could hear a sharp, high-pitched sound ringing in the air. She kept looking around, trying to find the source.

"Do you like this, little vixen?" a cold voice inquired. Nova oriented on the sound as Abdu-Ili appeared before the group. He lifted one hand and the demons stopped in their attacks. He swung a small silver item resembling a pocket watch in front of her face and watched her follow it with her eyes. "It's a fox whistle, tuned so only foxes can hear the sound waves being emitted."

"Dustin?" Lettuce asked softly, watching the American's fists quiver from being clenched so tightly. He found it hard to tear his green eyes away from the scene before him, Nova following the whistle-thing like a cat watched a string being waved in front of it. Her ears drooped against her head and her eyelids grew heavy.

"Don't touch her!" he raged, summoning his guitar and gripping it tightly.

Not even bothering to yell his battle cry, he swung it around with such force that the sound of the metal of the guitar cracking against Abdu-Ili's head echoed through the entire courtyard. The force of the blow sent the demon flying across the yard and slamming into a wall. Blood splattered against the wall as dry-wall and concrete crumbled to the ground around the fallen demon, blood flowing profusely from his head. Dustin let the guitar fall from his hands as he breathed heavily, glaring at the unconscious enemy. Ishtar brushed past him and slung Abdu-Ili over her shoulder like he weighed nothing.

"We'll be back, you can count on it," she hissed over her shoulder before vanishing into a puff of smoke.

"Dustin, they're gone now," Ichigo said gently, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Dustin!" Nova cried, throwing herself at him. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine. You're not hurt are you?" he replied shakily, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I'm okay… because you're here for me, to support me when I can't stand on my own," she smiled warmly at him.

"Hey, are you sure you two are cousins?" Ichigo asked, backing away a bit.

"Of course we are!" the two chorused. "We look similar, don't we?" they pointed at one another.

"But seriously, I thought you were gonna knock his head clear outta the ring with that blow, Dusty!" Nova grinned, ruffling his hair.

Ichigo felt a pang of jealousy as she watched Nova complement Dustin. The kind of feelings those two expressed for each other, she had only seen in movies. She never actually thought that something like that actually existed, yet here she was watching it first-hand. She had a hard time telling whether it was love or just deep friendship, but… regardless of what it was, she thought it was beautiful. Only a handful of people get to experience something like that and she wished with all her heart that she could be one of the lucky ones.

* * *

_A/N: hello, hello! Welcome back, and it's nice to meet you! It's me again, alchemicmonkey! I know, I know… another story… *sigh*… But I just can't stop! I have so many new ideas! That and I can't get back to work on INDC until August…_

_So how do you all like it? You hate it, don't you… I know you do! *twitch* okay… so! A few things you may want to know and/or are curious about:_

_1: the title, Armi e Nastri is Italian for weapons and ribbons. It seemed to suit the whole TMM theme, you know? That and I have a weird penchant for picking titles I can't pronounce to save my life… if you're returning from one of my older stories, like DXM or ALBE or INDC you know this already._

_2: this is yet another OC romance story. I bet half of you hate it now if you didn't before, right? Don't lie to me. The future pairings are going to be (hopefully) Keiichiro and Nova, and Ichigo and Dustin. Maybe something with one of the other Mew girls, I don't know. The ones I already planned so far are Nova and Keiichiro and Ichigo and Dustin. Maybe something with Masaya, Ichigo and Dustin? Maybe not…_

_Wahoo, okay, so I just saw the last airbender movie today, so I'm chock full of ideas! What the hell am I talking about? I should probably go now; you all probably hate reading long author's notes…_

_So until chapter 3, where Dustin reveals something about his past…_


	4. 3:Broken Bones and a Bleeding Heart

_3: Broken Bones and a Bleeding Heart_

"Dustin, can I talk to you for a quick second?" Ichigo inquired as the Mews were getting ready to open the café for the afternoon.

"sure, what is it?" the male Mew replied sweetly.

"I-I wanted to ask about your relationship with Nova," the cat-girl said, blushing a bit.

"We're cousins," he replied boredly. "Haven't we covered this already?"

"No! Ryou, you bastard!" Nova's voice screeched from the dressing room. "What the fuck is this supposed to be?" the fox-girl demanded of the blond, pointing to herself. She wore the standard café uniform, only it was black trimmed with orange.

"Well, using orange as the primary color would've clashed with your hair and been major overkill, so I went with black instead," the blond replied nonchalantly, taking a sip of his steaming tea.

"I look like a freaking hentai maid or something!" she snapped, her face turning a color that put tomatoes to shame.

"yes, we have, but it seems to go farther than cousins…is what it looks like to me," Ichigo floundered, her cheeks turning a light pink.

"Well, we grew up together. See, our moms are sisters and they were very close, almost like twins. We were born in the same hospital within a year of one another. I'm the older one, but…" Dustin started, raking a hand through his hair. "We were inseparable, best friends to the max. We did everything together, from going to preschool to spending the nights at each other's house. Our parents constantly said that our bodies and souls got mixed up at birth. You've seen how Nova is, so brash and outspoken, even manly. I'm the exact opposite of her, being timid and weak and even girly. I'm not gay."

"I never suggested that you were," Ichigo held up her hands in defense.

"anyways, one day, when we were in the fourth grade, I was being attacked by some bullies. They were from the seventh grade and twice my size. I tried to stand up to them but all I got was a black eye and scraped up knees. Then Nova appeared, having been released from detention for fighting. She jumped on the leader and nearly strangled him.

" 'Dustin, go home!' she barked at me, though one of the lackeys had her by the hair and another was kicking her in the stomach. I pretended to go home, but I hid around the side of the building. I just couldn't leave her there to be beaten up. I watched, unable to do anything, as the leader got back onto his feet and shuffled forwards. I bit my lip so hard it bled when I heard the cracking of bone and Nova's pain-filled scream. I waited until they had left before coming back around. She yelled at me, demanding why I didn't go home like she said. I told her that she needed some mode of transportation when the fight was over. I piggy backed her all the way to the nurse's office, where an ambulance and our parents were called," he chattered, idly fiddling with his bow-tie.

"She defended you?" Ichigo asked rhetorically.

"More like substituted for me. If it wasn't for her, I would've been the one with a broken leg. I've never really been able to stand up for myself, so she always filled that role. She was like my big brother, which was kind of nice because my brother was ten years older than me and hardly ever home. She's really tough, but is also unbelievably vulnerable, if you're lucky enough to see it," he chuckled.

"vulnerable? How?" the redhead pressed.

"when she's sleeping," he said, adjusting the sleeve of his shirt. "all that anger and toughness you see now vanishes completely and it's like she's a different person. Or if you get her drunk enough," he laughed softly.

"Drunk how? Like with alcohol?" Ichigo inquired.

"curiosity killed the cat, Ichigo. Don't you know that?" Dustin snickered. "It's none of your business, but she used to be in a gang. One night, around midnight, I found her slumped over on our front porch. She had gotten in a fight, which wasn't surprising, and her leg had been injured. The same leg that was broken in fourth grade. Turns out it had been broken again. She recovered, but spend almost a year in physical therapy. She has a limp now, but you can only see it when she's rushing around or running. And if she does that for too long or does it too much, she goes into a kind of shock and her leg goes entirely numb to where she can't move it at all. It really bugs her, so don't mention a word of this until she tells you herself," he said seriously, gazing intently into her brown eyes.

"Welcome to the café, what the hell can I get you?" Nova barked.

"you need to be nicer to the customers," Mint chided.

"Why the hell are you drinking tea? You should be working!" the fox-girl snarled.

"I always have tea at this time of day," Mint replied, pressing a hand to her cheek.

"and why do I have to be nice to people when Zakuro is no better than me?" Nova hissed, pointing to the model as she slammed a parfait in front of a customer.

"Nova, help me with my new act!" Pudding cried, tossing several plates in the air and pressing two sticks into her hands. "First we'll spin plates, then we'll go into a juggling routine!"

"What is this, a zoo?" Nova exclaimed, taking the sticks and bashing a plate in half.

"She sure is something," Ichigo chuckled.

"Yeah," Dustin agreed.

"Berry! Tasmanian man, get over here!" Berry and Tasuku skated over to Nova. "Delivery!" she snapped, pressing some boxes into their arms.

"Kyaa!" Lettuce squeaked as she slipped on the floor, dropping a tray full of food.

"Dustin, what level of hell did you force me into?" Nova wailed as she hurried food to a table.

"so it's just another regular day today," Ryou commented to Masha and Ucha.

"this is normal?" Nova screeched, dropping a pot of coffee as she was entering the kitchen.

"Careful," Keiichiro said gently as he kneeled down to help her clean up. "One Lettuce is bad enough. I don't need someone else breaking my dishes." Nova blushed five shades of red and stood up quickly.

"Oh…" she gasped as searing pain shot up her leg. She felt herself fall backwards. "not now…" she muttered, covering her eyes with her arm.

"what's wrong? Are you okay?" Ryou asked, alarmed. He bent down to help her up but a quick slap to his face stopped him.

"I'm fine! Don't touch me!" she glared up at him dangerously. He blanched momentarily.

"See?" Dustin whispered to Ichigo. "Leave her alone," he warned before scurrying off to the kitchen to give in an order. The redhead watched for a few moments as Nova pulled herself off the floor and hopped one-legged towards the dressing room.

"Easy," she said as she stopped the American from falling a second time.

"I've got it," Nova snarled half-heartedly.

"Don't lie about things like this. You're obviously in pain," Ichigo sniffed.

"this doesn't leave the café…" the fox-girl muttered as Ichigo helped crutch her to the dressing room.

"Do you need anything?" Ichigo inquired.

"Not really, just some painkillers I guess… to get my leg moving again…" Nova mumbled, massaging her numb muscles.

"I'll have Keiichiro get some for you," the cat-girl grinned.

"no!" Nova burst, clamping a hand to her mouth. "Anyone… but Keiichiro… p-please…"

"Well, okay. I don't see what difference it makes but…" she shrugged as she trotted away. As she bustled around the café, looking for someone who wasn't busy, she pondered Nova's reaction. "Could it be that she likes Keiichiro?" she asked aloud.

"Who likes me?" the brunette asked as he walked over.

"Um! It's nothing! Nothing at all! Just thinking out loud!" Ichigo laughed. If that was the case, she had to keep it secret.

"How's Nova? That fall didn't look pretty," he inquired.

"Her leg is completely numb from the looks of it. She said she wanted painkillers…" she rambled.

"Oh, I'll go get some then," he smiled.

"You can't!" she cried, grabbing his sleeve to prevent him from walking away. "She said… for anyone but you to give them to her…"

"Why can't i?" he asked, turning around.

"She just said… anyone but you…" the redhead muttered, clasping her hands together behind her back. "She didn't say why, just that it couldn't be you."

"Well, alright. I'll cover your tables while you take care of it," Keiichiro smiled. Ichigo mirrored the action and quickly got a couple pills and a glass of water.

"Is there a specific reason you didn't want Keiichiro to help you?" the redhead inquired as she handed Nova the pills and water.

"D-Don't be absurd, I-Ichigo! It's n-not like I l-like him o-or anything!" the American stammered, nearly choking on the pills. Ichigo cocked an eyebrow skeptically.

"Oh really?" she pressed, folding her arms.

"W-well, it's not a s-sure thing… for all I know it could be just… just mild infatuation! But th-that's beside the point!" Nova babbled. Ichigo refrained from commenting 'Not really.' "P-p-please don't say anything, Ichigo."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," the cat-girl smiled. Nova let a small smile appear on her face.

"Alright, let's get back to work!" the fox-girl declared, standing up. She stomped her leg on the floor a few times until she was sure it was okay.

"Don't overwork yourself. If it happens again, just take a break and I'll cover for you," Ichigo said, trying to hide a grin.

"Ichigo, there's someone here to see you!" Dustin called as the two girl re-entered the main room.

"Masaya!" she exclaimed, running to her boyfriend. "You're back?"

"Of course I am, Ichigo," the teen smiled, kissing her forehead. "I told you I'd be coming back here for high school, remember?"

"Who's that?" Dustin asked snootily.

"Ichigo's boyfriend," Pudding replied. "Dustin, do you like Ichigo?"

"shut up, monkey," he snapped.

"Welcome to the café, what the fuck do you want?" Nova hissed.

"Who is that?" Masaya asked, slightly put off by the girl's harshness.

"Oh, this is Nova Leary. The guy over there is her cousin Dustin… where'd Dustin go?" she asked, looking around for the waiter.

"I sent him out to buy some booze," Nova smirked. "We could make so much more money if we opened up a bar in here."

"Really?" she inquired.

"Nah, he's in the back being emo," she jerked her thumb towards the back of the café.

"Nova, can you take care of table seven?" Mint asked innocently.

"why the hell aren't you taking care of your own fuckin' tables?" she shrieked, throwing menus into the air. "And don't say your drinking tea again!"

"Of course not, I have my Japanese dancing class now," Mint replied, showing up in a purple kimono with pink cherry blossoms on it.

"Yargh!" Nova screeched, slamming her head into the table. "Ichigo, is this place always like this?"

"Yep," the cat-girl replied.

* * *

"Hey, the place is closing soon. You okay?" Dustin looked up wearily as Nova prodded him with her foot.

"Go away…" he mumbled, drawing his knees up to his chin.

"alright, what's wrong?" she sighed, crouching down in front of him.

"Ichihasabofrnd," he said quickly, slurring the words together.

"Okay," Nova pursed her lips. "Say that again in one of our recognizable languages."

"Ichigo has a boyfriend," he mumbled louder.

"So that's what this is about… listen, Dustin, you can't sit here and wallow in self pity. So Ichigo as a boyfriend. So what? Get over it and move on," she admonished.

"I can't. it might be just infatuation, but I don't want to get over it. I like Ichigo, Nova. I can't change that," he said, his voice gaining strength. "Just because you've never fallen in love doesn't give you the right to bash my love life."

"Dustin, patch up your bleeding heart and grow a backbone. I'm not going to be around forever. You need to learn to support yourself and stand up for yourself," Nova said flatly.

"Like I need you to keep looking out for me…" he scoffed.

"hey, aren't you going home?" Nova asked Ryou.

"I live upstairs. We both do," the blond replied, pointing to Keiichiro, who was cleaning up the kitchen.

"you live together? Like…" Nova tapped her two forefingers together and cocked an eyebrow. "like… _together_ together?"

"Ew. God, no," Ryou grimaced. "Do all American teenagers think like you do? Because if they do I am never going to Ohio."

"No… well, I'm sure some do, but no one I knew," she waved her hand.

"Heading home?" Keiichiro asked, wiping water and soap off his hands and tossing the towel over his shoulder.

"Um, y-yeah," she stammered, a faint blush creeping across her face.

"I'll walk you home; it's pretty late and Tokyo is a dangerous city at night," the brunette offered.

"No, you don't have to. I can handle myself," she said quickly. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and turned to leave. "I used to be in a gang, I'll be fine!" she chirped before walking out the door.

"A gang, huh?" Ryou mumbled. "What an interesting girl."

"Don't talk about her like you know her," Dustin sniffed. "You know nothing about her, so don't judge her."

* * *

"What an interesting pair," Ishtar smirked as she brushed her hair. She threaded her fingers through the silken locks, deftly braiding small portions and putting on ornate ceremonial decorations. She placed a bronze tiara on her head and watched her reflection in the mirror. She looked like the princess she had once been, well over a million years ago before an ugly scandal caused her fall from grace.

"Lady Ishtar, your robe," a handmaid bowed, proffering a bundle of fabric dyed deep blue and rich purple, the colors of royalty in the demon world.

Ishtar stepped out of her school uniform and into the robe. The maid tied a sash around her waist. She applied bright red lipstick and smiled.

"Let us go," she said. The maid bowed and followed her out of the chamber.

"My people, you may rejoice!" Nergal boomed over the crowds of billions. Ishtar wove through the crowd to take her place on the stage next to Abdi-Ili. "The seal is weakening more and more with each passing day. Soon we shall be able to roam this beautiful blue jewel of a planet freely, as we did before so many eons ago! It is thanks to Abdi- Ili and Ishtar that our freedom is drawing closer. Because of their noble deeds for the benefit of us all, they are being moved up in social rank, to nobles. Abdi-Ili shall be staging an attack the end of the mortals' week, three days time from now. All wishing to aid in the attack will report to Ishtar."

The cries of billions of demons echoed in the ceremonial chamber, filling up every possible crevice and bouncing off the walls. Nergal let a grin slide across his face beneath his hood. It was only a matter of months before the seal vanished entirely. The stupid humans need the time to get used to the presence of the oldest inhabitants of the planet. And the demons before him would gladly give their lives if he told them too. He ground his teeth together as he recalled being sealed four millennia ago by that foolish priest, who had surely been reincarnated by now. A wicked grin slowly formed on his face, exposing gleaming white fangs.

War would soon ravage the planet once again.

* * *

_A/N: okay, slight error was made. in chapter 2 I wrote Abdu-Ili. His name is really Abdi-Ili. If I find the time, I'll go back and fix that. In future chapters, though, he will be adressed as Abdi-Ili. My humble apologies. Please review this story. I need to know that someone is reading this._


	5. 4: Battle in the Midnight Rain

_4: Battle in the Midnight Rain_

"Finally, it's Friday afternoon!" Dustin stretched his arms upwards, leaning back over the back of his chair a bit.

"What's so good about it?" Lettuce asked, leaning over his shoulder.

"Hello, the weekend?" he enunciated. "It's prime goof-off time!"

"We have to work," Zakuro pointed out, not looking up from her notebook.

"What? Seriously?" Nova exclaimed.

"Pipe down back there!" the teacher snapped. Nova bit her lip and looked away, her cheeks turning red. "So… we have to work… at Café Mew Mew?"

"Yes, is that problematic?" Mint inquired.

"N-no, it's nothing!" Nova blushed a deeper shade of red and stared at her desktop. "Why do we have to work on a Saturday?"

"To gather information about our enemies," Berry explained. "Girls find the café cute and come there often. As one might expect, girls gossip nearly anywhere, and the café is no exception. And Dustin is certainly helping us reel them in."

"Aw, you're exaggerating," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, but we're also getting more guys courtesy of 'the foul-mouthed waitress'," Tasuku smirked, glancing at Nova.

"Like it's my fault," she scoffed, putting her feet up on the desk and folding her arms. "Apparently Japanese guys like my attitude."

"You don't love it? Every girl would kill to have hot guys flock to where she works!" Lettuce exclaimed.

"I hate it!" she snapped. "I absolutely hate teenage boys!"

"Miss Leary, are you paying attention at all?" the teacher barked, flicking a piece of chalk at her. She caught it and crushed it in her fist.

"Yes, I am," she spat. "Is there a problem?"

"Since you claim to be paying attention, why don't you come up and show us where Mesopotamia was located," the teacher requested.

"I hate world history…" she grumbled as she stormed up to the front of the class room and slapped her hand to the map. "Mesopotamia was located here, in the Fertile Crescent. Writing and astrology were first invented here, at least, the first known records."

"I think you mean 'astronomy', not 'astrology'," Ichigo pointed out. "Astrology is the study of the zodiac signs in an attempt to predict the future. Astronomy is the study of the stars and planets."

"Well, it seems you were paying attention after all. You may go sit down," the teacher huffed. Nova turned on her heel sharply and swept back to her desk, just happening to overhear a conversation between the two girls who sat in front of her.

"Yeah, they had to close down the festival grounds because of it!" one said in a half-whisper.

"It's so scary. Does anyone know what those black monsters are?" the second sighed.

"I was so looking forward to hanami this year too," the first groaned. "Tokyo Mew Mew should do something about it, like when those aliens came to attack us."

Nova glanced at her teammates, concern filling her grey eyes. Shouldn't Ryou have filled them in about that already? Even if the grounds had been closed within the past few hours, he would've told them all. The other Mews returned the glance. Clearly they had been thinking the same thing.

Why hadn't they known about this?

The school bell's ringing had all eight Mews, Tasuku and Masaya, who was in a different class, running towards the café. Nova broke away from the group because her leg was acting up again, saying she'd catch up later. She leaned against a building, catching her breath, when a teen in street clothes approached her. Her eyes widened in fear and her breath came in short, ragged gasps. This was the exact situation that had broken her leg a second time, but she was too scared to prevent it a third time.

"Hey, whatcha doing?" the teen asked in what was supposed to be a husky voice.

"Uhh…" she squeaked. Why couldn't she say something? She used to be in a gang! Surely she could pummel this guy! He didn't look too strong, with skinny arms and almost no visible muscle. So why couldn't she move...?

"By the looks of it I'd say you have nothing to be doing. Want to go to karaoke with me?" he asked, leaning over her and breathing down her neck.

"Is there something you need from my girlfriend?" a familiar male voice demanded. Nova looked up and gasped.

"Keiichiro?" she exclaimed, her brain finally functioning properly.

"Sorry I'm late. Let's go," he smiled, grabbing her hand.

"Hey, she's going to hang out with me," the teen snapped, grabbing Keiichiro's arm. Nova blinked and when she opened her eyes saw the teen crouching down on the ground, pressing his hands over his stomach.

"Touch her again and you'll regret the day you laid eyes on her," Keiichiro hissed. Nova felt her mouth flap open and closed like a fish. "Shall we go?" he asked kindly, smiling again.

"Okay…" she muttered, her cheeks growing hot. She kept sneaking glances at the brunette chef from beneath her bangs. He was at least a foot and a half taller than her, which made her feel small and delicate and slightly wimpy. His long brown hair was tied back loosely and shined in the late afternoon sunlight. She thought she saw his grey eyes glance at her once.

"I guess it was a good thing I made a last minute grocery run, huh?" he finally said, holding up the plastic bag he held in his right hand.

"Uh… y-yeah!" she replied. "Thanks…" she mumbled.

"Why didn't you do anything? I may have only known you a week, but you look like the kind of girl that would beat up a guy like that," he chatted. "Why didn't you do anything?" he repeated in a softer tone.

"I… it reminded me of the second time I broke my leg. Remember how I told you I used to be in a gang? My boyfriend was in the same one. He tried to… take our relationship to 'the next level'. I asked why and he said he just wanted to see what it was like. I refused and he tried to… you know? I fought back and he broke my leg, the same leg I broke back in fourth grade when I protected Dustin from a bully," she muttered, her hand fisting her skirt over her left thigh. "I crawled all the way back to Dustin's house, too scared to go back to mine. That's why I kinda collapsed the other day. If I use my leg too much I'll go into shock and I won't be able to move it."

"That was… the situation in which it broke?" he inquired gently.

"Yeah. In an alley, late in the afternoon. The doctors said if it broke a third time I might not be able to walk again," she sighed, looking down at the ground moving beneath her feet. "That's why I'm not too keen on becoming a Mew. Becoming a Mew means we'll have to fight, right? People get hurt in battles and wars all the time. I don't want… to lose my ability to walk. If that happens, I can't realize my dream."

"I'm sorry," was all Keiichiro said, tightening his grip on her hand slightly and kissing it.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Dustin demanded, slamming his hand down on the counter.

"It's not my fault. The computers don't register the demons' genetic make-up like it did with the chimera animals. If I had known I would definitely have told you," Ryou said, folding his arms and leaning back against a table.

"Can't you get an upgrade or something so we can locate the demons and get rid of them?" the American pressed, his free hand clenching into a fist.

"If we collect a sample of the demons' genetic make-up, I can probably input it into the computer's GPS and set it to locate demons," the blond sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But first, we need to open up shop, for a few hours at least."

"What? Shouldn't we go fight the demons?" Ichigo cried.

"We have no idea what kind or how many there are. Ryou is right; we need to gain a bit more insight before rushing into battle," Keiichiro announced.

"K-Keiichiro? Nova?" everyone exclaimed. "What are you two doing?"

"Go on a hot date?" Zakuro inquired with a small grin on her face. She pointed to their hands, which were still in the other's grasp from earlier.

"D-Don't be ridiculous!" Nova said, jerking her hand away as she blushed bright red. "My leg gave me trouble again and a car nearly ran me over. Keiichiro was kind enough to help me out of the way and keep me from falling into the road." She glared at the others from underneath her bangs. "Don't begin to think that there's anything between us other than employee and employer."

"Keiichiro, is that true?" Berry inquired.

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?" he smiled.

"What business is it of yours, princess?" Nova hissed.

"We're just curious," Mint added.

"You're all conspiring against me!" the fox-girl snarled.

"Is it just me, or do those three not get along very well?" Ichigo asked aloud.

"Well, if my memory is working correctly, foxes usually eat small animals like birds and rabbits. Considering the animal DNA they were merged with, it seems rather normal," Dustin shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess…" the cat-girl sighed.

"Oh, we have customers!" Lettuce announced.

"Welcome!" Pudding exclaimed.

"Do your best," Keiichiro said as Nova walked past him to change into her uniform. She stopped and turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Okay?"

"Of course," she mumbled, turning away quickly to hide a blush.

"Hi, we want the foul mouthed waitress," a group of guys said to Mint.

"Nova! You have customers!" the bird-girl called.

"Yer fucking kidding!" came a distant reply. "Can't I have five minutes to get my damn dress on?" Nova snapped as she walked out into the main room, her dress halfway up her arms. "Since you're not doing anything, would you mind helping me out?" she asked as she fiddled with her hair, pulling it into a messy bun. Mint grudgingly obliged.

"There, you're done," the blue Mew huffed, patting her back.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" Nova growled. The guys averted their eyes. "That's what I thought," she smirked, grabbing a stack of menus and leading them to an empty table.

"Hi Masaya!" Pudding said as Masaya came in through the door.

"Masaya?" Ichigo repeated, spinning around. She tripped over the broom Lettuce was using to sweep up dish shards. "Ah!"

"Whoa," Dustin commented as he caught her. "You okay?" he asked, helping her back on her feet.

"Y-yes, I'm fine!" she chirped. "Masaya?" she gasped as a warm hand reached around her shoulders and pulled her away from Dustin.

"Gotta go!" the gold Mew grinned, jogging off to another part of the café.

"Masaya, what was that about?" Ichigo demanded.

"What was what about?" he replied, following her as she scuttled about the café.

"Jerking me away from Dustin like that! He was just being nice to me," she huffed.

"I don't like him," Masaya muttered.

"Don't like him? What do you mean by that?" she inquired hotly. She didn't like where this conversation was heading. "He's one of us!"

"How do you know that for sure? For all you know, one of those demon things could be manipulating him and playing you like a freaking harp!" he burst.

"The genes were compatible with him!" she insisted. "I don't see what you have against a guy being a Mew Mew!"

"I don't want to lose you!" Masaya shouted. "Do you know how scared I get each time you go out to fight? I don't have the power I used to and I can't stand not being able to do anything to help you. The last thing I need to worry about is you falling for someone else."

"Masaya, it's not like that," Ichigo insisted.

"I'll call you later," he said coldly, turning on his heel and walking out the door.

"Masaya…" she mumbled, staring at him as he walked away as hot tears brimmed at her eyes.

"The road of love is full of obstacles," a voice commented suddenly.

"R-Ryou! I don't need your sarcasm right now!" Ichigo spat. She rubbed her face angrily and brushed past him.

"I'm just observing," he smirked.

"Just because your life lacks love doesn't mean you can mock me!" she snapped, raising her hand to strike him.

"My life has all the love I need. The only thing missing is the woman's acceptance of it," he replied curtly, grabbing her wrist. Ice cold water splashed on the two of them, snapping them out of the intense mood forming.

"Oops, my bad. Sorry guys," Nova grinned sheepishly, clutching a pitcher of water haphazardly in her hands. "Guess I should tie my shoelaces properly, huh?"

"Be sure that you do," Ryou muttered. Nova went to go refill the pitcher, casting a glance over her shoulder. She winked at Ichigo and disappeared into the kitchen. Ichigo felt a small smile form on her lips and returned to work.

* * *

"Hey, you okay?" the fox-girl asked when they were cleaning up that evening.

"What?" Ichigo asked stupidly.

"Your boyfriend, he didn't look too happy earlier. Is everything okay?" Nova clarified.

"Y-yeah, everything's fine," Ichigo said.

"Oh, okay," the American nodded.

* * *

"Ishtar, what are you doing?" Abdu-Ili inquired, stifling a yawn.

"I'm just chatting…" she replied, not turning around. "…with our pet." She let her pale fingers glide over the cage bars before gripping the lock tightly.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I was thinking that we have a little family reunion," Ishtar giggled. "What do you say… Branden?"

"I… can see my… family?" the mass inside the cage inquired weakly. It shuffled around until it was in the dim light. Dull orange hair glinted in the light and grey eyes peered up at the demons fearfully.

"Ah, I almost forgot about him… carry on, Ishtar," Abdu-Ili smirked.

* * *

"This is the festival grounds," Ichigo announced. The Mews were crowding around a gate marked with yellow tape. The cherry trees swayed gently in the breeze, their pale pink blossoms glowing faintly in the streetlights. "The gate's locked; we can't get in."

"Isn't there another entrance?" Dustin asked.

"Those are locked up too. The demons are here, right? Why would the common folk be allowed to wander about here when it's so dangerous?" Mint replied.

"Well, then, I guess we have no choice," Nova sighed.

"What are you doing? You're gonna get us in trouble!" Lettuce hissed as Nova began climbing the fence.

"Yeah, well, it's either get busted or let demons take over Tokyo and eventually the world. I'll let you decide what you want to do," she replied coolly, swinging her leg over the fence and hopping down.

"But what if we get caught? Shouldn't we have transformed first? There might be cameras," Berry mumbled.

"Oh, that?" Nova asked, holding up a video camera. "I recorded a few minutes of nothing and hacked into the camera's systems. All they're going to see is one big hunk of nothing while we investigate."

"How clever!" Mint commented.

"It's nothing. I am a fox after all. Quick thinking and cunning are in my blood," Nova grinned. She pulled a safety pin out of her pocket and inserted it into the lock. Without bothering to wonder what kind of moron would put the lock inside the gate, she quickly picked it and let the gate creak open. The other Mews crept inside.

"Welcome," Ishtar's voice rang out in the silence. "So glad you could come; now we can begin the celebration!"

"Here we go," Berry cried. In a flash of light all eight Mew Mews transformed and stood ready for battle.

"For ruining everyone's week by invading the festival grounds, we're going to make you pay!"

"Listen, before you dish out some so-called 'justice'…" Ishtar sniffed, moving to where she was visible, perched on a tree branch. Her eyes skimmed over the Mews before narrowing slightly. She swept out a hand, gesturing to the figure shifting its weight behind the tree's trunk, "…let me introduce you to someone. Branden, say hello to our guests."

A man in his early twenties stepped out into the dim light. Dull grey eyes swept over the landscape and unkempt orange hair floated slightly in the breeze.

"A hostage?" Ichigo exclaimed, summoning her weapon. The man sunk to his knees as black beams of light shot from his body and encircled him.

"No… he's a demon!" Zakuro corrected as the man's transformation completed. He stood about a foot taller, with an ornate outfit and black bat-like wings protruding from his back. His orange hair had grown in length and was neatly styled in a low ponytail that draped over one shoulder. His grey eyes glowed dangerously. "Ribbon Zakuro Spear!"

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"

"Ribbon Mint Echo!"

"Ribbon Double Berry Check!"

"No!" Nova cried as she stepped in front of the man, taking the blows of the attacks. She fell to her knees, blood trickling down from multiple cuts on her body.

"Nova, what are you doing?" Pudding cried. "Why'd you get in the way?"

Lightning flashed overhead as thunder rumbled in the sky. Warm rain began pelting the ground, washing away Nova's blood. Ichigo watched as the fox-girl coughed once and pushed herself off the ground, wiping away blood at her lips and smearing it on her glove.

"You can't attack him…" she muttered over the rain.

"Nova, what are you doing?" Dustin asked, his grip on his guitar tightening.

"Nova, get out of the way! He's a demon and we have to—" Berry started.

"He's my big brother!" Nova cried, holding out her arms. Ichigo blanched, her weapon slipping from her hand. The demon…was Nova's… brother?

* * *

_A/N: hello hello! welcome back! are you all enjoying the story thus far? I know I am, but i wouldn't be able to write it very well if I wasn't enjoyng it. Some tension between Masaya and Ichigo in this chappy. As I probably mentioned before the goal (of sorts) is for Ichigo and Dustin to wind up having a 'thing' so you can guess that Masaya and Ichigo are going to break up. Please Review! I only have, like, one review so far! and thanks to whoever reviewed!_

_Until chapter 5..._


	6. 5:Complications, Kisses and a Camera

_5: Complications, Kisses and a Camera_

"Your brother?" Lettuce repeated. "How can that be?"

"Five years ago, my big brother went missing. The last my family heard of him was that he had went to serve Nergal. Everyone assumed he was dead, but I refused to believe that. My brother served in the army and I refused to believe that he would die so easily," Nova said, keeping her gaze on the rain-soaked pavement beneath her. "This is my big brother!" she insisted.

"Thank you for protecting me," the demon said smoothly, placing a hand on Nova's shoulder. His icy skin made her flinch. "…little girl. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to properly introduce myself. "My name is Branden, and I am one of many servants to Lord Nergal. I have been allowed to come to the surface to exterminate the little critters destroying my brethren."

"Branden!" Nova cried as Dustin pulled her out of the way of an attack. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Nova, stop it!" he cried, struggling against her and pinning her to the ground. "That's not Branden!"

"Yes it is! I know it's him!" she insisted, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. "Ribbon Silver Bullet!" she screamed, firing her guns at Dustin. He reeled back and clutched his right arm. Blood leaked out from between his fingers.

"Nova, that isn't your brother anymore," he said solemnly.

Nova stared at him fearfully. She had never seen Dustin like that before. He looked like he was ready to kill someone. Was that what being a Mew was about? Fighting and killing? If that was true, she wanted no part of it. Her guns fell from her trembling hands, clattering on the wet ground. More tears rolled down her cheeks, mixing with the rain. This wasn't the life she wanted.

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!" Ichigo cried, her attack bouncing off the demon. "Why isn't it working?"

"Fools, your powers are useless unless your teammates work together!" Branden laughed. "If even one of you is against what you're fighting for, your powers decrease and become useless!" he thrust out his hands and black beams shot from them, racing along the ground and breaking the concrete. Nova, too confused to move, was hit by a beam and sent flying into the air.

"Nova!" Lettuce cried, rushing to her fallen comrade. "Nova, wake up!" she urged, shaking the fox-girl's unconscious body. Orange light shone and Lettuce found herself holding a small orange fox.

"Ribbon Golden Symphony!" Dustin cried as golden light exploded from his guitar. Branden stepped to the side to dodge it, the attack searing his sleeve.

"I think that's enough Branden. You can return back to normal now," Ishtar sighed, stifling a yawn. Branden fell to the ground and reverted back to his prior form.

"D-Dustin… Nova…" he croaked, shifting his head so that he could gaze at the Mew Mews. "Save me…" he begged as Ishtar picked him up and summoned her magical smoke.

"I trust you can handle the rest of them, assuming your friend can still fight like that," she giggled, glancing at Nova before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Ichigo gasped as she felt power running through her body. Her weapon rang and appeared before her, pulsing with the new energy. She could see small threads of light, each one colored to match their corresponding Mew.

"Rainbow Scepter," she called as the words appeared in her mind. Her hand reached out to grab the weapon. The moment she touched it, it changed into a long staff adorned with a pink heart-shaped ring on the top with ribbons of each color Mew cascading down the pale pink rod. A gold bell and a silver bell chimed as she held the scepter aloft.

"Ichigo?" Dustin mumbled, watching his comrade.

"A new weapon?" Mint asked aloud.

"Rainbow Mew Mew Ultimatum!" Ichigo cried. Streams of light shot from the scepter, encircling the eight heroes and making them glow as their powers resonated with one another. The remaining demons shattered when struck by the light. Black bubbles took their place and settled on the ground before dissolving into the puddles left by the steady downpour.

"What kind of battle are we fighting?" Berry asked.

"I wish I knew," Zakuro mused.

"What happened to Nova?" Pudding asked, joining Lettuce on the ground. The green-haired girl had already changed back to normal. "She looks like Ichigo only she's not a cat."

"It was probably the stress of the fight," Dustin sighed, brushing wet hair out of his eyes.

"Let's get back to the café. Keiichiro and Ryou will know what to do," Ichigo decided, changing back to normal. The others agreed and headed back to the café.

* * *

"What happened? You're all soaking wet!" Ryou exclaimed. "You're ruining the floors!"

"Nova?" Lettuce asked as the small fox stirred. She rubbed her eyes and hopped to the floor. She walked up to Ryou and nuzzled his hand.

"What is it?" he asked, crouching down. Nova pushed his hand open and dropped something into it. "This is… a blood soaked leaf. What are you trying to do?" he asked, grimacing.

"That blood…" Dustin muttered, kneeling down next to him. "That blood doesn't look normal."

"You're right, it's tinted black," Pudding agreed, leaning over the blonde's shoulders.

"That blood… its demon blood!" Berry cried.

"You got the DNA! Now we can track the demons down!" Ichigo exclaimed, picking up Nova and throwing her in the air. "Nova…?" she asked, looking at the fox. Tears brimmed at her eyes and ran down her already wet fur. "Nova, what's wrong?"

Nova shook her head and jumped to the ground. She padded over to Keiichiro and sat at his feet.

"How will she get back to normal?" Dustin asked, wringing out his hoodie.

"Maybe it works like Ichigo," Mint suggested.

"You turn into a fox too?" the American asked, awe struck.

"No, I turn into a cat if I get too excited. The only way I can resume my human form is if I kiss someone," Ichigo explained.

"So… someone has to kiss Nova to get back to normal?" Dustin asked, his cheeks turning as red as Ichigo's hair.

"We don't know that for sure. Ichigo and Nova have different genes, so the trigger for the transformation may be different," Keiichiro jumped in, handing a towel to each rain-soaked person. "I think we should try different things and see what works. Is that alright with you?" he asked, looking down at the fox. Nova nodded hesitantly.

"Smack!' Pudding chirped, kissing Nova. The fox-girl pushed her away and stuck out her tongue.

"I'll give it a shot," Dustin offered, reaching out a hand. Nova bit it and glared. "Maybe not…"

"Little rat," Ryou scoffed, picking her up by the scruff of her neck. She howled and clawed at him. "What is your problem? We're trying to get you back to normal!" Nova howled louder, contorting her body in an attempt to escape.

"There's no need to be rough with her, Ryou. We've all had a long week and it's no easier for them," Keiichiro interrupted, taking Nova from Ryou's grip and cradling her gently in his arms. "What's most important is that everyone is okay. You have the DNA of a demon so you can complete that new robot you've been working on. I'll turn Nova back to normal, so you all can go home."

"K-Keiichiro, are you going to kiss her?" Lettuce asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lettuce," he smiled and disappeared behind the kitchen door.

"Well, I better explain to our parent's why we're so late coming home," Dustin chuckled, turning to leave.

"Dustin, wait!" Ichigo called, running after him. "Dustin!" she grabbed onto his sleeve, gasping for air. "You walk… really… really… fast…"

"Let me guess, you want to know if Branden is really Nova's brother," he sighed. Ichigo flinched; he didn't sound too pleased.

"Y-yeah…" she mumbled. "It's just… Nova looked so upset about it and I—"

"Stop sticking your god damn nose into other people's business!" he snapped, glaring at her over his shoulder. "If you have so many fucking questions about Nova, you can go ask her!"

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" she babbled, trying to hold back tears.

"Have a pleasant evening, Ichigo," he said monotonously. She watched as he walked away, pausing only once to flip up his hood when rain began falling again.

Dustin bit his lip. He hated that he yelled at Ichigo but she needed to learn to stop poking around where she shouldn't. What if that Branden guy really _was_ the brother Nova had lost five years ago? If he was, he was a pawn of the demons and that meant they were enemies. But still… the last thing his family had heard of Nova's brother was that he had went to serve Nergal… the leader of the demons also had the same name, 'Nergal'. Could it really be Nova's brother…?

* * *

"Well now, what are we to do about your situation?" Keiichiro asked, setting Nova on the counter. "I told everyone I'd get you back to normal, but I haven't the slightest idea what to do."

She pawed at the counter curiously. It was strange walking on all fours like… well, like an animal. Everything was so big and out of her reach. She felt small and useless. She whimpered a bit and curled up into a ball.

"Don't worry, I'll think of something," he assured her, patting her head. She wanted to tell him not to trouble himself, but Ryou didn't understand her when she was screaming at him a few minutes ago, so she guessed Keiichiro wouldn't understand her either. She rolled on her side and stared at the ceiling. Ichigo said that when she turned into a cat she had to kiss someone to get back to normal. But this was Keiichiro! She couldn't just walk up to him and kiss him! Either way, she had to try something to get back to normal. "Nova?" he asked, interrupting her frantic thinking. She sat up from rolling around the counter.

'_Maybe it's like transforming! I just need to think about returning to normal!'_ she thought furiously. _'But that's what I've been doing ever since I regained consciousness! It's not working!'_

"You're really weird sometimes, you know that?" Keiichiro chuckled. She watched as he moved about the kitchen, eventually losing interest and set to work cleaning her fur. "Here," Keiichiro said after a few minutes, setting a plate of cake before her. "You're probably hungry, and it's best if you eat something."

She nibbled on the cake absently, wondering what to do. She yelped as she bit her tongue. How was she going to explain this to her parents? And what of Branden? He was alive at the most… but he was a demon now or at least worked for them.

'_Wait… the last thing we heard was that he went to serve Nergal… the demon who sent Abdu-Ili and Ishtar after us is also named Nergal… Branden was taken by the demons?'_ she gasped as this realization dawned on her.

"What is it? Did you think of a way to get back to normal?" Keiichiro inquired. She blinked and shook her head.

"Keiichiro, I'm done," Ryou announced, entering the kitchen. "So the brat's still a rat, huh?"

Nova barked at him and growled. Ryou thought for a moment and in a flash of light transformed.

"**You're a Mew Mew?"** she asked, blinking rapidly.

"**Not exactly. In order to perfect the Mew Project I tested it on myself first. I can turn into a cat at will but can only stay like this for ten minutes,"** he explained.

"**Why can I understand you?"** she demanded.

"**Animals can understand other animals. Didn't you know that?"** he replied.

"**I'm not the brightest Crayola in the pack, if you get my drift,"** she huffed.

"**So you're stupid. No wonder you can't get back to normal,"** he scoffed. **"And here I was thinking you just preferred having people fawn over you."**

"**Why you… how dare you call me stupid!"** Nova barked. **"I'm gonna scratch that stupid grin right off your face!"** she howled charging for Ryou. The two animals chased one another around the counter. Ryou slipped once and skidded across the counter, colliding with a dark green messenger bag and knocking it to the floor.

"**Whoops, I hope that wasn't important,"** he mumbled.

"**You bastard! That was my camera! Oh look, my photos are everywhere!" **Nova whined. She leapt off the counter to try to pick them up but Keiichiro beat her to it. Instead of landing on the ground like she expected to, she landed on top of him. Their lips met only briefly, but it was enough to change Nova back to normal.

"Sorry, but you should watch where you put your things. And why was your camera in the kitchen anyways?" Ryou demanded, returning to his human form.

"I was cleaning it earlier, smart one. No, you know what? I lied; I was actually taking pictures of the dishes!" she said sarcastically, gathering the black and white photographs.

"Did you take these?" Keiichiro asked, holding one up to look at it.

"No, those I got off the internet for inspiration," she muttered. "Mine aren't developed yet. You'll see them eventually."

"Be sure to keep your things out of the kitchen. Keiichiro might mistake it for a decoration and serve it to a customer," Ryou sniffed.

"You can't eat a camera!" she spat as he walked away. "Fucking moron don't know what he's talking about…"

"You should go home. It's past midnight and your parents are probably worried," Keiichiro said gently.

"You're probably right…" she sighed, organizing the photos and tucking them away in the bag. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"I'm glad you're back to normal," he said as she walked towards the door.

"Me too," she said, a small smile quirking her lips. She ducked out the door and ran for home, her face heating up more with each step she took. She pressed her fingers to her lips lightly. She had kissed him. She had actually kissed Keiichiro… sort of. But… if she was like Ichigo and needed to kiss someone to return to her human form, why didn't it work when Pudding kissed her? She shook her head and slapped her cheeks. She had been kissed before; it wasn't that big of a deal. Then why did she feel so happy?

"Psst, Nova!" Dustin hissed. Nova looked up to see Dustin hanging out his bedroom window. "I told them that you're staying at Ichigo's place tonight. I called her and she agreed to let you stay over."

"Don't make plans for me!" she hissed back. "Besides, I have no idea where she lives!"

"Nova, over here!" Ichigo whispered. Nova glanced to her left and saw Ichigo hanging out of a window.

"We're next door neighbors?" the orange haired girl hissed. "Why didn't I know this?"

"Because you never pay attention to anything besides your stupid photographs," Dustin sniffed.

"That's not true!" Nova hissed as she climbed over Ichigo's gate and snuck to the door. A few minutes later it creaked open and Ichigo appeared in the doorway. "Hi."

"Hey," the red haired girl grinned, stepping aside to let the American inside. "Thanks for being so civil about this."

"It's nothing…" Nova shrugged. "Umm… c-can we talk?" she asked softly, twiddling her thumbs and looking at the ground.

Ichigo watched her for a moment or two before smiling, "sure."

* * *

_A/N: woo hoo! Chapter 5 is done! How are you all liking the story? Any lovers yet? How 'bout haters? Anyone who could care less?..._

_Next chappy's got some girl-bonding in it. So sue me._

_Until chapter 6..._


	7. 6: Sodas at Two in the Morning

_6: Sodas at Two in the Morning_

"Thanks for letting me stay here for…" Nova glanced at the clock, "…a few hours."

"It's nothing. What are friends for?" Ichigo smiled, handing her a cold can of soda.

"Caffeine at two in the morning? Just my kind of gal," Nova smirked, popping the thing open and taking a long drink.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Ichigo inquired, plopping on her bed and taking a drink from her can of soda.

"Well… it's um…" Nova stammered, blushing.

"Is it about Keiichiro?" the cat-girl asked gently.

"Y-yeah…" Nova mumbled, drawing her knees up near her face.

"Whenever you're ready," Ichigo said, grabbing her brush and dragging it through her hair. It had grown so much in the past few years she hardly recognized herself.

"We kissed," Nova said bluntly, turning a deeper shade of red. Ichigo dropped the brush.

"Come again?" she demanded.

"Ryou was being a jerk and knocked my camera off the kitchen counter and I went to go put everything back into the bag but Keiichiro beat me to it and when I jumped off the counter I landed on top of him and we kissed briefly and now I'm back to normal," Nova said in a rush. She glanced at Ichigo fearfully.

"You look like a scared rabbit!" Ichigo giggled. "There's nothing to be ashamed of, Nova, that's great!"

"Great?" Nova repeated.

"Well, you like him right?" Ichigo smirked. "Who knows, maybe you'll become an item?"

"Yeah right. That's not gonna happen, Ichigo," Nova scoffed and took a swig of soda. "I hate teenage guys."

"But Keiichiro isn't a teenager anymore," Ichigo pointed out. "He's in college, taking online courses. Actually, I think he's in his twenties by now," she mused, looking up at the ceiling as if it would confirm her statement. It gave no reply so she looked back to Nova, who was still curled up in a ball, playing with the soda tab absently.

"Still… I don't want to be hurt again," she mumbled into her knees. "What about you? How are things with Masaya?"

"He's still touchy about Dustin. I don't understand why he won't accept the fact that I have a guy as a regular friend. It's not uncommon," Ichigo huffed.

"He's pretty stuck-up if you ask me. From what I saw it looked like he was trying to protect his wallet from being stolen or something," the fox-girl scoffed.

"He's just trying to protect me," Ichigo sighed half-heartedly. "When I first became a Mew, we fought aliens. His body had been taken over by the leader and he sacrificed himself to save everyone. I resurrected him by giving him my power. We've been kinda like glue ever since."

"Pfft," Nova blew a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Lucky. I've had… five boyfriends and each relationship became crap."

"Wow, five?" Ichigo repeated, astonished. "Why didn't any of them work out?"

"They just wanted me for my body, the filthy pricks. None of them actually cared, you know?" she paused and drained the rest of the soda from the can. "The last one was the worst. That jerk broke my leg when I refused to sleep with him," she spat, throwing the can across the room and stretching out on her back. "That's why I hate teenage guys."

"Eh, life just plain sucks sometimes," Ichigo huffed, tossing her empty can across the room as well. "I can relate, sort of. One of the aliens, Kish, was in love with me… and Ryou too, for that matter."

"Ew, Ryou? Really?" Nova snickered. "That's weird."

"You have no idea. Several times, when I turned into a cat, this grey cat Alto would come turn me back into a human. You're not gonna guess who the cat really was," Ichigo sighed.

"The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man," Nova said with mock seriousness. "Who?"

"Ryou," she replied, making a face.

"Gross! You kissed Ryou?" Nova squeaked.

"And the alien Kish," Ichigo nodded, grinning.

"Kish, like in the food? Like… quiche kinda Kish?" Nova asked.

"Sure," Ichigo chuckled. "He kept harassing me all the time and he even died for me."

"Again I say lucky," Nova sniffed. "You have any food? I'm starving and the only thing I've eaten since this morning… or yesterday morning actually… was a slice of cake Keiichiro got for me when I was still a fox."

"Sure, it's down in the kitchen," she smiled, leading the way. "Hmm… let's see… ah, we can eat this. I made it yesterday."

"Food!" Nova exclaimed softly, eyeballing the plate of rice balls like they were lumps of gold. She hastily bit into one. "It's good!"

"Thanks," Ichigo grinned, closing the refrigerator door.

"So what are you gonna do about Masaya?" the fox-girl asked as they went back to Ichigo's room.

"I'm not sure. I honestly don't get why he won't accept Dustin. He says he scared of 'losing me'," she sighed.

"Oh, you won't have to worry about Dustin sweeping you off your feet," Nova said through a mouthful of rice. "He's gayer than Peter Pan on a pair of ice skates."

"Dustin's gay?" Ichigo asked, a tad heartbroken.

"No, but he might as well be. In all the years I've known him, which is pretty much my entire life, I've never seen him express any interest in girls romantically. He's had countless friends but no girlfriends," Nova sighed.

"Why?" Ichigo inquired.

"He's dead set on finding that 'fairy tale romance' you see in movies and stories and junk. You know, 'The dashing young hero saves the fair maiden from an evil overlord and the two get married and live happily ever after!' kind of thing. I keep telling him that doesn't really exist, but now I'm kinda eating those words," Nova played with a stray string dangling from the hem of her shirt. "Ever since we came to Japan my life has become a movie almost, or a comic book. Fighting demons and magic powers and transformations and everything."

"It's not all bad," Ichigo giggled. "You make it sound like you're digging graves or something."

"Aren't we, in a way?" she came back, leaning her head on her hand. "We're attacking demons. They vanish when they get hit by our powers. Doesn't that mean we're killing them?"

"I guess I never thought about it that way before…" Ichigo muttered.

"We say we're trying to save the world by destroying the demons, when in reality we're just killing them. That makes us no better than the demons themselves. We're just murders in fancy costumes," Nova sighed. "I don't want to be a murderer, Ichigo."

"All is fair in love and war," the cat-girl replied. "What a load that is, huh? They say it's fair, but it's not. Someone somewhere is going to get hurt. That's how life is."

"I once read somewhere that 'fighting a war is one story, but living to tell the tale is another'. Is that what this is? War?" Nova asked softly. "This ain't exactly Woodstock, if you know what I mean," she chuckled dryly, rolling on her back and staring at the ceiling.

"Woodstock?" Ichigo repeated.

"Never mind," Nova shook her head. She sighed heavily and continued her blank stare at the ceiling, the lighting fixture causing her to see little colored spots each time she blinked.

"I think this is the first time I've seen you like this," Ichigo said a few moments later.

"Like what?" Nova asked.

"Not angry at everyone,"

"Ha! Don't press your luck, Ichigo. You breathe a word of this to anyone, that you saw me 'not angry at everyone'…" she made finger quotes, "you'll regret it."

"Why, what will you do?" Ichigo asked.

"…I dunno. I'll think of something, though, just you wait," Nova grinned.

"Can I take a rain check?" the redhead asked weakly.

"I don't see why not," the American laughed. It had been an awfully long time since she felt this relaxed. The two Mews chatted long into the remainder of the night and into the morning. Ichigo dozed off around six forty-five and Nova followed a few minutes later.

"Girls, wake up, breakfast's ready!" Ichigo's mom called, knocking on the closed door. Ichigo groaned and Nova pulled a pillow over her head.

"But we just fell asleep!" the cat-girl groaned.

"I'm still running on Ohio time," Nova mumbled, pressing her face further into Ichigo's mattress. "I think it's still nighttime over there."

A shrill ringing sound shattered the dull silence, making Ichigo fall off the bed and Nova dive for her bag, which she had set on the desk across the room. She quickly shut off the alarm on her cell phone and tossed it back in the bag.

"Sorry, I forgot I had my alarm set," she apologized.

"I thought it was an air raid siren or something!" Ichigo wheezed, clinging to a pillow.

"I have difficulty getting up in the morning, so I need a really loud alarm. Back in Ohio I had four alarm clocks, an alarm set on my phone and one on my iPod," Nova grinned sheepishly.

"Six alarms?" Ichigo said. "How heavily do you sleep?"

"Well, one day I fell asleep in class, right? And there was a, um, fire drill. The alarm was right above my desk and I slept through the entire drill," the fox-girl chattered as the two went downstairs. "I got detention for sleeping through it."

"Wow," Ichigo replied.

"Look at all this food!" Nova exclaimed, gesturing at the table. "I'm starving!"

"Still?" Ichigo asked, trying really hard not to grin.

"Hey, all I ate yesterday was a slice of toast for breakfast because I overslept, half a slice of cake when I was with Keiichiro and Ryou, and a rice ball late last night. And a can of soda," she rattled off the list, counting the items on her fingers.

"You're pretty cool when you're not angry," Ichigo smiled.

"Eh, I guess," Nova shrugged, gazing intently at the food spread out on the table. She chewed on her lip thoughtfully before dashing back upstairs and returning with her beloved messenger bag. Ichigo had already started eating and glanced at Nova curiously. "Hold still!"

"What?" the redhead asked, utterly confused. She watched as Nova pulled a black camera out of the bag. Not one of those slim digital ones; the kind professional photographers use, with a big shiny lens and about a million different buttons.

"Don't move a muscle," Nova said slowly and deliberately, adjusting the lens and then peering through it. "Okay, you can move now," she chirped after the camera flashed.

"It'd help if I could see…" Ichigo mumbled, blinking hard and shaking her head.

"Excellent! Now I can get the roll of film developed," Nova grinned, tucking the camera back in the bag and sitting down. "Thanks Ichigo."

"No problem, I think," she replied, rubbing her eyes. "Where'd you get a camera like that? It must've cost a fortune!"

"Oh, my parents got it for my birthday last year. See, I wanna be a photographer when I get out of school. That's why I'm studying n Japan, because the photography school I was accepted into is here. Unfortunately, they're making me take some general education courses. I go to regular school during the week and photography school on the weekends and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. I get pretty busy, and now I have to fight monsters," the fox-girl chuckled dryly.

"Is that why you always come to work late on weekends?" Ichigo inquired.

"Shut up, I've barely been here for a full week," she smirked, smacking Ichigo's shoulder playfully.

"Well, you have been coming home pretty late some nights," the redhead chattered.

"Oh, so now you're spying on me?"

"I'm just kidding! Don't get so upset!"

"Upset? I'm not upset, Ichigo, I'm stark raving mad!"

"I'm glad Nova's finally made some friends," Ichigo's mother sighed happily. "Isn't it just like Ichigo to befriend someone new to not only the city but to Japan?"

"Yeah, sure," Ichigo's father grunted, flipping the page in the newspaper as the two teenagers bickered.

"Ichigo, Ichigo!" Masha chirped appearing before them.

"Whoa, I want one of these," Nova chattered, grabbing Masha and squishing it to see if it was real.

"Ichigo, demons!" Masha chirped. "Demons are attacking Tokyo Disneyland!"

"Now?" Nova groaned, plunking her head on the table. "I'm running on like, half an hour of sleep here!"

"We better go," Ichigo mumbled. Nova groaned and rolled her eyes, but got up and followed Ichigo out the door.

* * *

_A/N: okay, I know the story doesn't really fit the M rating… yet. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to make it M as of right now, save for some possibly gruesome deaths of random people and stuff… I have a really good idea for a chapter about Nova and Keiichiro, but I don't want to put it in the story just yet. Any ideas for Dustin/Ichigo situations?_

_Out of the curiosity, would anyone be willing to beta? Just asking..._

_Until chapter 7…_


	8. 7: Firsthand Deaths

_7: Firsthand Deaths_

"Tokyo Disneyland!" Berry announced when all of the Mew Mews had assembled by the front gates. "Here we are!"

"Ichigo, your robot's broken. I don't see any demons anywhere," Nova panted, slapping her knees and standing up straight.

"Idiot, they're not just going to parade around in broad daylight," Dustin sniffed.

"They're hiding, obviously," Mint stated.

"Now what?" Lettuce asked.

"Search party!" Pudding exclaimed, rolling around on a ball.

"I think Pudding has the right idea. We'll split up into teams of two and cover a different area of the park." Ryou commented . "Everyone find a partner and get to work."

"I'm with Lady Zakuro!" Mint exclaimed, clinging to the model's arm.

"Pudding and me!" Dustin punched the air with Pudding mimicking the motion.

"Berry and I will team up," Ichigo jumped in.

"Shall we go together?" Lettuce asked, turning to Nova. The fox-girl smiled and nodded.

"Anything so I'm not alone with you-know-who," she whispered.

"Who, Lord Voldemort?" Dustin asked. "Is he here? Hey Voldy! Can I get your autograph?"

"Stupid, that's a book character. Besides, we have enough on our plates," Nova held her hand over his face.

"Could it be…? Dustin, are you…" Pudding started, her brown eyes staring fearfully at him. "Are you a Harry Potter fan?"

"Eh heh, I've been found out," he chuckled dryly.

"That's so cool! I've read all the books and seen all the movies that are out now!" Pudding exclaimed. The pair wandered away from the others, chattering about the wizardry saga.

"who were you talking about, Nova?" Lettuce inquired as they picked a direction and started walking.

"I was talking about Keiichiro," she admitted, blushing lightly. "I don't much like being near him because I think I might like him and I get nervous."

"how sweet," was all Lettuce said. The two walked in silence for a moment until a sharp scream pierced the air.

"Demons!" Nova cried, spinning around.

"It's just the roller coaster," Lettuce said, gesturing at the ride nearby.

"Oh… I knew that," Nova sniffed awkwardly. "Hey, look at that," she nodded her head towards a crowd.

A girl around their age staggered through the crowd, blood flowing heavily from her right arm. Her short black hair looked damp and messy and her black skirt and white shirt dripped water, leaving a trail of puddles in her wake. People parted as she walked through the crowds, some people making disgusted remarks. She stumbled closer and closer to Lettuce and Nova, drooping to her knees a few feet before them.

"H…help me…" she croaked, fixing her pale grey eyes on the Mews. They widened in fear and pain as the seconds passed.

"Stay back," Ryou warned, suddenly appearing by their sides. "She's giving off major demonic pheromones," he said, holding out an arm to prevent one of the girls from going towards the girl.

"I want… my body back…" the girl rasped, clawing at her chest. She shredded her shirt and blood beaded at the thin red lines left in the wake of her fingernails. "Give it back… give it back… give it back…!" she screeched as her body twitched violently, tossing her head backwards and releasing a painful wailing sound.

"What is that?" Berry cried, clamping her hands over her ears.

"It doesn't sound human!" Mint added.

The crowd that had gathered backed away, creating a large pocket of air around the girl as her fit continued, making her thrash around violently and smearing her blood on the ground. Ichigo watched in fear as the sliced skin of her chest began to ripple and bubble sickly.

"Interesting, is it not?" a voice commented over the dull mumblings of the crowd. The girl's screeching died away into pain-filled whimpers.

Orange hair glinted in the late morning sunlight as Branden rose out of a black puddle. He walked over to the girl and stood over her like a master would stand over a beaten slave. He grinned wickedly at the heroes.

"This is called Darcheart Possession, where a bodiless demon spirit invades a human body. The human becomes the host until the parasitic demon spirit is strong enough to take over the body and reject the human soul, which then becomes food for the demon. See, we demons can eat normal foods like pizza and noodles and meat and such, and our powers are like any other gift like a talent for drawing of running track; they grow as we use them more. but our powers get an extra 'oomph' from consuming a human's spirit," Branden snickered, getting down on one knee next to the girl and placing a hand over her eyes, which had rolled back into her head as the fit progressed.

"Murderer…" Nova muttered, shaking her head. She opened her mouth to say more but a hand covered it, preventing further speech.

"Ah, I believe she's ready to be rejected and consumed. You'll want to watch this. I doubt any of you have known someone to die… today you will get to watch death firsthand. Rise, my brethren, rise and take the land that is rightfully ours!" he cried, lifting his arms. The girl gave a bloodcurdling scream as a black, blood-covered mass ripped out of her chest. The shape grew to immense proportions, torn wings spreading from its back as razor sharp fangs protruded from its mouth. Bright red blood splattered on the ground as if someone had dropped a bucket of red paint.

"How can we transform? There are too many people here!" Dustin demanded, avoiding people running in terror from the demon beast.

"Got it covered," Nova huffed, reaching into her messenger bag and pulling out three small capsules. She threw them to the ground and a thick grey smoke enveloped them.

"What are you trying to pull?" Branden demanded, waving his hand in an attempt to clear the smoke.

"We're trying to save the world," Berry's voice announced.

"And for attacking an innocent girl, we're going to make you pay!" Ichigo added.

The smoke cleared and the silhouettes of the Mew Mews grew sharper until a rainbow of heroes could be seen, weapons in hand and ready for yet another battle. Ichigo and Berry stood in their standard pose, the others grouped behind them. Dustin watched Nova bite her lip. This battle wasn't easy, but it must be harder for her because they were fighting Branden… her brother. The last time they had fought him, their powers had almost stopped working because she refused to fight him after not knowing whether he was dead or alive for five years.

"What are you going to do? You can't fight me, Nova won't harm me," Branden chuckled smugly.

"think again, you imposter," she snarled, aiming her guns at him and firing. He was too shocked by her sudden change of attitude to react in time and the two bullets clipped his shoulders. The last time she had stopped her team mates' attacks from hitting him.

"You dare attack me?" he laughed. He leapt nimbly onto the head of the demon, arms folded firmly across his chest. "Maybe you've got more guts than I imagined."

The demon beast roared angrily, bright red light shooting out of its mouth and eyes. Glowing orbs of the same substance formed in its clawed hands, creating a strong wind that whipped around the battling forces like a tornado.

"Get out of the way!" Ryou cried as the orbs were shot at the Mews. Mint and Dustin flew into the air as the others dove out of the way. The strong winds caught them like pieces of paper, throwing them around the wind currents and disorienting them.

"Mint, grab my hand!" Dustin yelled over the roar of the wind, reaching out an arm to Mint. The blue Mew grabbed his hand and held on tight, afraid to let go lest she be blown right into the demon's mouth. She looked around as she heard what sounded like glass cracking. The winds died down and they fell against the ground.

"What's going on?" Pudding cried, rapping her knuckles on the glass dome that had formed, trapping Mint and Dustin with the demon and Branden. "Guys, can you hear me?"

"Pudding?" came a distant reply. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're okay. What's going on in there?" she answered.

"No, no, no, little monkey," Branden chided, materializing outside the dome. "You six can play with me."

"Give us back our friends!" Berry demanded, summoning her weapon.

"Or what? You'll attack me with your sugary sparkles? I'm far too strong for you to even try to attack," he sneered. He snapped his fingers and Berry's weapon flew out of her hands, clattering on the ground before changing back into Ucha, who lay on the ground unconscious.

* * *

"What is it doing?" Mint asked, clinging to Dustin's arm and backing away. The demon beast folded its arms across its chest, eyes glowing eerily.

"I wish I knew," Dustin replied a bit shakily. The beast spread its arms, black and red liquid, reminiscent of oil, gushed from the outstretched limbs and splattered on the floor. The liquid crept towards the girl, who lay moaning on the ground, the demon still attached to her chest. As it seeped into her body through the gaping hole in her chest, a translucent liquid tinted gold and lavender spread on the ground.

"Is that her spirit?" Mint asked softly.

"again, I say I wish I knew," Dustin answered, irritation starting to show in his voice. "Stop asking me questions I can't answer."

"Her body's disappearing!" Mint gasped, pointing a gloved finger at the girl's body.

"Ichigo, Zakuro, someone, can you hear me?" Dustin called, banging on the thick glass.

"Dustin?" Lettuce's muted voice called back. "I can't hear you very well!"

"We're not sure what's going on but it looks like the girl is dying or something!" he said loudly. "Is Branden out there?"

"Yeah, Ryou's here, why?" she asked.

"I didn't say a thing about Ryou, I was asking about Branden!" Dustin snapped.

"Yes, I'm here Dustin," Branden chuckled, his shadow appearing next to Lettuce's. "If you know what's good for you, you'll be a good little boy and be witness to the death of a human."

"You sick…" he started, banging on the glass again.

"Help me…" the girl's voice rasped.

"She's alive!" Mint cried.

"P-please… help me… I want my body back… I don't want… to die…" she pleaded, red tears brimming her eyes. "Save me… please…"

"Ribbon Mint Echo!" Mint cried, firing her weapon at the beast. The attack bounced off the demon and the translucent puddle continued to grow in size as her body continued to disappear. "It isn't working!"

"I've got it," Dustin slapped his hand with his fist. "That super attack we did the first time we fought him, when Nova turned into a fox! If we do that something ought to happen!"

"But how do we do that?" the blue Mew inquired, keeping an eye on the girl.

"What were you thinking about when it happened the first time?" Dustin asked.

"I wanted to save everyone," Mint replied softly. "I wanted this battle to be over and for things to go back to normal."

"that's what I was thinking about too," he grinned. "Try thinking about it again," he prompted, taking her hands in his. "Maybe we all just need to synchronize our thoughts."

* * *

"this feeling again…" Ichigo gasped, pressing a hand to her heart. That extra energy welling up deep inside her very core. "Mint? Dustin?"

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Zakuro asked.

"what are you doing now?" Branden demanded, stopping in his abuse of Lettuce. The green Mew fell to the floor, coughing and pressing a hand to her throat. She fingered the cuts on her arms and bit her lip.

"Why aren't our powers working sometimes?" Pudding asked.

"Pudding, you're glowing!" Nova exclaimed, pointing at the yellow Mew. She looked down to see a brilliant orange-yellow light coming from her body.

"You're pretty shiny yourself," she pointed out. Nova looked down to see her own silver light.

"Rainbow scepter," Ichigo called, glowing a bright pink. Zakuro was wrapped in a lavender colored light and Berry in a white aura. Lettuce stood up and limped over to her comrades, acquiring her own green glow. Inside the glass the Mews could see a blurred blue and gold light.

"Synchronization… all of us are thinking the same thing," Berry muttered.

"Our hearts and minds are becoming one and our power is increasing," Zakuro added.

"We all want the same thing," Lettuce nodded.

"end the war and return things to normal," Pudding jumped in.

"I'm not saying something so cheesy to show that I agree," Nova sniffed.

"I guess Mew Nova will be Mew Nova," Ichigo shrugged.

"Why would I be anything else?" the fox-girl smirked.

"Here we go," Ichigo cried, grabbing the scepter and raising it above her head. "For the sake of humanity, we'll win this war! Rainbow Mew Mew Ultimatum!"

The attack struck Branden, knocking him to the ground, and continued to the glass dome. The substance shattered into millions of shards and the power pierced the beast. It fell to the ground and dissolved into black dust that was absorbed into the ground.

"I'll get you yet," Branden snarled, rubbing dirt off his face with the back of his hand. He stood up and slapped dirt off his clothes. "You may have destroyed my monster, but you can't save the girl!" he cackled, sinking through the ground.

"Girls, get over here now!" Ryou barked.

"How is she?" Ichigo panted, running over with the others close in tow.

"Not good. Her pulse is dangerously low and she's not breathing properly. If something isn't done she'll die," Keiichiro replied.

"what can we do?" Mint asked rhetorically.

"If we knew how to return her spirit to her body something might happen," Dustin mumbled, glancing at the puddle around her body.

"i… don't want… to die…" she gasped. "P-please… save… me…"

"we'll have to kill her," Nova said.

"What?" Berry cried. "Why? Is there nothing we can do!"

"No, there isn't! if all is fair in love and war, it's only fair that if we can't save someone we put her out of her misery! This isn't some comic book battle, like what you went through before," Nova snapped. "this is war," she said firmly, glaring up at everyone.

"Nova is right," Ichigo sighed. "As much as I hate to admit this, its war. 'You must lose a fly to catch a trout' so if we want to win this war we'll have to sacrifice some people."

"But we can't! we're an icon of justice and fighting for what is right! A Mew can't kill someone!" Lettuce protested.

"Then a crazed psycho will," Nova said firmly, ducking behind the bushes and changing back to normal.

She turned her striped hoodie inside out and rolled in a mud puddle, masking her face as best as she could with a thick layer of mud. She tied her hair back and flipped up the hood, emerging from the bushes again. She pulled a small pocket knife out of her jeans pocket and flipped out the blade.

"forgive me, but you will only die slowly if I don't aid your death," she apologized, kneeling down next to the dying girl.

"Nova, wait," Dustin said, grabbing her arm. "Let me do it."

"No one is going to kill her," Ryou announced. The Americans looked up, confused.

"She's dead," Keiichiro said, passing his hand over the girl's face and closing her eyes.

Pudding gasped and turned into Lettuce, crying softly. Berry pressed a hand to her mouth. Tears ran down Ichigo's face as Zakuro placed an arm around her shoulders. Mint sunk to her knees, unsure of what to feel. Dustin bit his lip and looked away. Nova just stared blankly ahead, her knife falling from her hand and clattering on the ground.

"I won't be home until later. Tell my parents I'm hanging out with Berry," she said before walking away.

"Be careful going home today. Try not to worry about this too much," Ryou said absently.

"I can't not worry about it. I watched someone die right before my eyes. I can't just turn a blind eye," Ichigo muttered.

"Don't worry about what Ryou said. It's okay to worry about it. Let yourself cry and grieve for this girl. It'll help make next time a bit easier," Keiichiro patted Ichigo's head comfortingly.

"Now I know what Nova was talking about… not wanting to be part of what is essentially a killing spree. I don't want to fight this war if it means innocent people will die like this," she muttered, glancing at the dead girl.

A warm breeze ruffled her pink hair as she looked up to the cloud filled sky.

"That's why I'm going to end this was as soon as possible."

* * *

_A/N: yeah, chapter seven! I actually had a lot of fun writing this one, with it's gorish battle scene. The next chapter introduces a new character and is set mostly in the demon's world. after that we go back to the Mews and find out how they handle this battle._

_Until chapter 8..._


	9. 8: The Little Demon Boy, Ashran

_8: The Little Demon Boy, Ashran_

"Abdi-Ili, are you awake?" a servant asked. Abdi-Ili sighed heavily and moved his hand over his eyes. The bright blue artificial light from the city beyond his room was blinding. He sighed again and sat up, the white sheets falling away from his body in a rumpled pile on the king sized mattress. He stretched and got up, walking to the floor-to-ceiling windows lining the wall. "Abdi-Ili?"

"I'm up, stop fretting," he hissed, glancing dangerously at the slightly opened door. The servant squeaked and scurried away.

He returned his attention to the cityscape just beyond the thin layer of cold glass. He could see his reflection in the pane, and the scars that had turned his torso and chest from a slab of alabaster to an intricate pattern that almost looked like lace. His fingertips traced the ones across his collarbone, the darker pink barely visible in the blue lights. His teeth ground together harshly, a fine dust forming in his mouth from the friction.

When the demon race had been banished by that fool of a priest who was stupid enough to throw his life away to seal them all, they had been forced deep underground. Nergal had found a dimensional rip and moved the entire race through the rip. They took advantage of their dismal situation and built the thriving metropolis that lay before him, Hattunka. Their technology was ages ahead of the human's pathetic TV and Internet. Their technology was what allowed them to teleport, by deconstructing their bodies into something like mist or dust or smoke, something that could travel easily on a simple breeze, and assembling the pieces somewhere else. During the four millennia they spent banished from their home world, their anger towards the humans grew. Abdi-Ili growled. The priest that banished them would be reincarnated soon, within the next couple years. If they did not destroy the body he would reside in, they were sure to be wiped out entirely and become the latest exhibit in the extinct animal display in some dusty old human museum. No one wanted that. No one wanted to die in vain. In this war, every life and every loss counted. They could not lose. What was needed was a way to defeat those insufferable zoo creatures. They always showed up when things were being set into motion and ruined everything.

"Father…" a small voice asked nervously. "May I come in?"

"Ashran," Abdi-Ili acknowledged the voice.

A small boy, barely three feet tall, inched into the room. He wore denim shorts with the hems rolled up and a black sailor style shirt with a sailor's hat resting on top of his pale blond hair. His big green eyes looked up to Abdi-Ili, reflecting the blue light.

"What did you want?" he asked.

"Mother wants to speak with you," Ashran replied. "I told her you wouldn't want to, but she insisted."

"Very well, I shall go see what she wants, but only because you asked me to," Abdi-Ili sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "Give me a moment to grab a shirt."

"Yes Father," Ashran nodded.

* * *

"How old are you now?" Abdi-Ili inquired. Ashran jogged a bit to keep up with his father's long stride.

"I'm a few months shy of my fourth century," the child replied, grinning. It was a well known fact that demons aged slower than humans. Ashran looked like an eight-year-old human boy, but he was close to four hundred years old. Abdi-Ili was verging on three hundred thousand, though he only looked eighteen at most, maybe in his early twenties.

"You get bigger every time I see you, which isn't very often because of that woman. Are you eating well enough over there? I don't understand why she insists that you stay in that prison with her," Abdi-Ili chatted.

"I am eating. Prison food is not the best, but it sustains life. I think Mother gets lonely, so she keeps me there. Ishtar was just promoted in social standing, so she's not been doing as well. After all, it was her fault that they both fell from grace," Ashran commented.

"But I also share part of the blame," Abdi-Ili added.

"Oh no, I only think good of you Father! Mother was the one at fault, breaching the caste system so she could seduce you!" Ashran insisted, clinging to his father's leg. "You had no fault in that; you were the victim of her insatiable lust and it was karma that she was caught!"

"This is why I like you so much more than your mother," Abdi-Ili grinned down at the boy. "Did she say why she wanted to speak to me?"

"She's been having fits again, more violent this time. I worry that she will die one day because of them," Ashran mused.

"More useless prophetic babbling, eh?" he sighed heavily. Ashran's mother used to be the high priestess of the temple, being able to have accurate visions about the future and whatnot. She had also been a princess, as had her sister, but a certain scandal had stripped them of their titles and put Ashran's mother in prison indefinitely.

"Mother means well. She's only trying to aid our species by continuing her prophecies," Ashran smiled. "After all, it was her who first foresaw the invasion of the aliens, then their return to the planet. She also foresaw the zoo animals and the Saint Rose Crusaders. If not for her, the planet might be under the control of aliens or freaks."

"And we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Abdi-Ili smirked. He had to admit that that woman could be pretty useful, even if he did hate her.

The two walked to the elevator in the apartment building Abdi-Ili lived in, taking a quick ride down to the lobby. A pretty receptionist smiled at them as they made their way outside into the hubbub of Hattunka. Demons were going every possible direction, some walking, others levitating, the ones with wings flying. Ashran grabbed onto his father's shirt tail to avoid being lost in the crowds. The elder man took the younger one's hand and guided him through the city. The streets gave off a soft blue light, a result of bioluminescent minerals they were carved from. Actually, the entire city was built from the mineral; they had stumbled upon the largest deposit of it they had ever seen before: well over ten thousand square miles. The mineral was used for almost everything from buildings to medicine. Of course, some demons consumed it as a drug. It had been given the name euphorium and could be compared to the human's ecstasy or acid, inducing a 'high' and causing the pleasure receptors in the brain to become stimulated.

"Father, look," Ashran said, pointing. Abdi-Ili turned his head to look where Ashran's finger pointed. An empty alley marked with dark red paint was simply crawling with humans, bound and chained inside cages. "They've gotten more puppets for us."

"Those aren't puppets, Ashran, they're slaves," Abdi-Ili corrected.

"Same difference, they're there for us to use and manipulate as we see fit," Ashran sniffed. "Filthy cretins." Abdi-Ili chuckled at his son's comment.

The pair continued on their way through the city, stopping only once when a train passed through the city. They arrived at a large grey building without windows. Guards stood at every possible location, their pale grey uniforms seeming to glow in the blue light cast by the city. After a quick explanation of who they were and a showing of identification cards, they were let inside.

"Top floor, cell at the very end of the hall," a guard said, jerking his gloved thumb in the general direction.

"Father, can I go to the surface with you?" Ashran inquired during the elevator ride to the top floor.

"Maybe one day," Abdi-Ili replied, patting Ashran's head.

"Abdi, is that you?" a weak female voice asked when the two arrived at the cell. A white mass shifted in the corner of the cell.

"Mother!" Ashran exclaimed. "I've brought Father!"

"I knew you would come… darling," the voice rasped. A female figure stood and walked slowly towards the glass barrier separating the three. "I've missed you so very much."

"Tell me why you summoned me to this dismal replica of hell, Eris," Abdi-Ili snorted.

The woman turned her face up to see them, her skin ghostly pale. Her pale blond hair, the same color as Ashran's, fell over her face in unkempt, messy layers. She had not been allowed to cut it nor care for it properly, so it dragged along the concrete floor like a cape of sorts. Her grey eyes, so pale they seemed white, shone brightly at the sight of her son's father.

"I missed you, Abdi. Did I not say that already?" she replied sweetly, pressing a slender hand to the glass.

"You did, and I could care less. You know how I feel about you Eris. Tell me why you wanted to see me… the real reason," he sniffed.

"You're so cruel! All I've done ever since I laid eyes on you was love you! Everything I've done I've done for you! If you insist on being so heartless I refuse to speak!" Eris shrieked, her hand clenching into a fist.

"Mother, please don't act this way," Ashran pleaded.

"Eris, I'm sorry. Will you please tell me?" Abdi-Ili rested his arm against the glass.

"Will you tell my sister as well? I've not seen Ishtar in a very long time," Eris said softly.

"I will tell Ishtar," Abdi-Ili sighed. Eris smiled warmly at him.

"The priest is being reincarnated soon. Very, very soon," she smiled. "Is that not joyous? We shall be able to destroy him and regain our former glory!"

"Glory is not something you are worthy of attaining, Eris. You are destined to stay in this prison until you shrivel up and waste away. Do you know what the priest's vessel will look like?" Abdi-Ili snarled. The more he spoke with this woman the more he grew agitated.

"I don't know what it looks like but I know you've already seen it!" she laughed, throwing her head back. "You've encountered the vessel so many times already I'm surprised you did not see it yourself!"

"Tell me who it is!" he demanded, banging on the glass.

"I told you all I know!" she cackled, sinking to her knees in her fit of laughter. "The rest you will have to figure out on your own, unless you wish to wait for me to learn of it and we all know how long that can take!"

"We're finished here," Abdi-Ili said over the maniacal laughter, grabbing Ashran's hand and all but dragging him from the cell.

"Goodbye Mother! I'll see you soon!" Ashran called, waving with his free hand.

"You will not," Abdi-Ili said firmly. "You are going to stay with me. Tell me, Ashran… how are your powers developing?"

"Very well. I'm getting better at controlling them and my frequency and pitch have gone up!" Ashran snickered. "Why?"

"I have a mission for you, on the surface," Abdi-Ili smirked. His son's power would be sure to cripple the pathetic humans; it nearly left the last victim unconscious. Humans were much weaker than demons and would fall victim to his power easily. "There is a girl, one of the zoo animals, who is part rabbit. Getting rid of her should be easy for you, no?"

"Rabbits can hear very well," Ashran explained. "Taking her down will be easier than snapping my fingers." He giggled darkly, snapping his fingers as if to prove a point.

"Ishtar will see to your transportation to the surface," Abdi-Ili said, closing the conversation.

* * *

They rode the express train across the city to where Ishtar was living. It was a large estate, a white building carved from the finest marble and trimmed with gold. Bushes and shrubs trimmed to look like animals lines the cobblestone walkway to the double doors. He pressed a small red button and the wrought iron gates swung open. Ashran ran up and down the cobblestone path, admiring the landscaping and pointing out bush sculptures he liked. Through the bushes marble statues could be seen, positioned around an elaborate fountain, the water spouting from it glittering eerily in the blue light.

"May I help you?" a servant asked when they answered the door. "Ah, Lord Abdi-Ili and young Lord Ashran. Lady Ishtar is right this way," she held the door open for them and gestured for them to follow her down one of the many hallways. "The Lady has been expecting you."

"Ashran! I'm so glad to see you!" Ishtar exclaimed, sweeping her nephew up in a hug. "Abdi-Ili, I've seen you under better circumstances."

"Father says you can transport me to the surface. He's given me a mission," Ashran said excitedly.

"Really? What kind of mission?" Ishtar asked, humoring the boy's enthusiasm.

"He wants me to get rid of one of the zoo animals ruining our plans," Ashran grinned.

"Oh, that sounds exciting," Ishtar smiled, glancing suspiciously at Abdi-Ili. "Well, I'll get right on it. Abdi-Ili, would you come help me for a moment?"

"I spoke with Eris," he said awkwardly when they were alone in the next room.

"Oh? What did little sister say this time?" Ishtar chatted, rummaging through a trunk.

"Don't you throw anything out?" Abdi-Ili sighed heavily, watching her toss aside random items as she searched for something. "She said that the priest would be reincarnated very, very soon. She didn't know who it was but said that I've already encountered him a few times."

"Could it be one of the Mews?" she asked, pulling out a small box with a cast iron lock.

"I'm not sure, but it must be either one of them or one of their affiliates. They're the only people we've encountered repeatedly. What on earth is that stench?" he coughed, holding an arm over his mouth and nose when she unlocked and opened the box.

"Ashran isn't of age yet to have the transportation technology implanted inside him, so I'm going to let him use this. It's my old Spacekey," she pulled out a surprisingly new looking key. The key was silver and adorned with a red star shape trimmed with grey and topped off with a dark red ribbon tied in a bow.

"I haven't seen one of those since I was a child," Abdi-Ili said, slightly awestruck at the ancient technology.

"Last one in existence that isn't kept under lock and key in City Hall," Ishtar smirked. "No pun intended."

"What do we do about the priest?" he hissed.

"Ashran, come here," Ishtar called as they went back to the room. Ashran set down his cup of ginger and mint tea and skipped over to them. A servant bowed and left the room. "This is a Spacekey. Do you know what it's for?"

"Returning to City Hall?" he replied warily.

"Ha, no, this belongs to me. There used to be a bunch of these before the bodily transporter was invented. A Spacekey lets you bend and manipulate the fabric of space and time, allowing you to teleport. You just hold onto it and give it some of your power and think of where you want to go. Think you can handle it?" Ishtar explained.

"Of course I can!" Ashran said hotly, thinking the adults were teasing him.

"Good boy," Ishtar grinned, handing him the Spacekey.

"There's just one problem…" he hesitated. "I don't know where the bunny-girl lives," he admitted, blushing a faint pink.

"That's not a problem," Abdi-Ili chuckled lightly, pulling a small toy out of his pocket. He pressed a button on it and it swiftly changed into a stuffed rabbit. "This robot is equipped with a tracking device. I fine tuned it to track the Mew Mews genetic make-up. Just follow him and you'll find the bunny in no time."

"I'm going to call you Momiji," Ashran chirped, hugging the rabbit. It whirred to life and looked up at him.

"We should get going Ashran. The Mews have all separated after their last battle and are heading home. They watched a girl die and are fairly vulnerable right now," Momiji said.

"I'll be taking my leave now," Abdi-Ili huffed, running a hand through his hair and walking towards the door. "Ashran, you are free to either stay on the surface or return to my apartment. I'll leave the choice up to you."

"Goodbye, Father!" Ashran waved at his father's retreating figure.

"I'll see you soon, Ashran," Ishtar smiled.

"Ditto," he grinned, holding the Spacekey aloft and vanishing the way a hologram did when the power was cut. He materialized a moment later, landing on the ground in a crumpled heap.

"Ouch…" he muttered, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. "where are we?"

"This is called Harajuku. It's a part of the city of Tokyo, where the Mews live. Follow me, I know where the white Mew is," Momiji explained, brushing dust off its fabric and walking away.

"Tokyo is a big city," Ashran mused, looking at the colorful signs and people. "So many colors…"

"Hattunka is far better," Momiji sniffed. "You'll need to cross this street."

"Momiji, stop moving around like that," Ashran chided, scooping up the rabbit and holding it in both arms. "Humans don't have advanced toys like you that move on their own. They'll find out we're demons if you move around like you just were doing."

"I'm not a toy, mind you, and I'll do as I please," Momiji said, struggling to get out of Ashran's grasp. "That way! Turn that way and hurry!" he cried suddenly, pointing to Ashran's left.

"Is the white Mew this way?" Ashran asked as he jogged down the street.

"Right in front of you!" Momiji cried, pointing to a girl with long hair almost as pale as his.

"I've got an idea," he said, ducking into an alley and emerging onto the street a few yards ahead. "It might seem stupid, but just play along okay?" he asked Momiji.

* * *

"How awful. I feel so strange walking home alone at night after what happened today," Berry mumbled aloud. "I wish Tasuku was here, then I wouldn't feel so lonely." She stopped walking suddenly, standing up straight.

"What's wrong, Berry?" Ucha asked, poking its head out of her pocket.

"I hear crying," she replied, cupping a hand around her ear to hear better.

She looked around and saw a young boy, probably no older than eight, sitting on the ground outside a building and crying. Both his knees were scraped up badly, the blood dripping on the ground. A stuffed rabbit was clutched in one arm and he used the sleeve of his sailor style shirt to wipe at his face. A matching hat was on the ground a few feet away. She picked up the hat and crouched down in front of the boy.

"Is this yours?" she asked kindly. The boy looked up, showing large green eyes overflowing with tears, and nodded. "what's wrong, are you okay?"

"I-I was walking with my d-daddy and he let go of my hand for a minute and I tripped and fell and scraped my knees and now I can't find him," the boy blubbered. "I'm scared."

"It'll be okay. Come on, let's get your wounds cleaned up," Berry smiled gently, offering her hand. He took it hesitantly and followed her. She bought a bottle of water and pulled out her handkerchief, soaking it and gently wiping away the blood drying on his knees. "I'm Berry, what's your name?"

"My n-name is Ashran. It's nice to meet you Berry," he smiled weakly. "Thank you very much for helping me."

"Oh, it's nothing really!" she giggled, waving her hand as she blushed. "Anything to get this afternoon off my mind…"

"Did something sad happen to you? You look like you've been crying," Ashran asked, touching her cheek.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. Now, what say we find your daddy, huh?" she said quickly, ripping the cloth in half and tying the sections around his knees.

"Okay," he nodded. "I think I know where he went."

"Great, which way?" she asked, clapping her hands together.

"Um… that way," he pointed randomly. Berry followed his finger, finding herself looking at a mostly empty park. It seemd a bit fishy, but she wanted to get Ashran home safe.

"Ashran is an interesting name," she talked to pass the time. "Who gave it to you?"

"My daddy gave it to me. He said he didn't want my mommy to name me because he wants nothing to do with her," Ashran explained.

"Why not?" she asked.

"My mommy's in jail. She did something bad and now daddy hates her," he said softly. "He said he doesn't want me near her anymore."

"I'm so sorry," she said awkwardly.

"Berry's an interesting name too. Were you named after the food?" he inquired.

"Yeah, I suppose I was," she chuckled. Now that she thought about it, all the Mews except Nova and Dustin were named after some sort of food. Strange…

"I love berries. They're so yummy!" Ashran chirped.

"Me too. I have a friend who's named after a strawberry," Berry smiled.

"Berries are delicious, they look so delicious" he grinned. "Can I tell you a secret?" he asked.

"Sure," she nodded. He motioned for her to lean closer so he could whisper in her ear.

"You look delicious too, Berry," he whispered.

Berry was about to ask what he meant, but a high pitched screeching sound slammed into her. Within seconds she had fallen unconscious and now lay in a rumpled heap on the grass.

"Well, well, that was almost too easy," Ashran smirked, his green eyes glinting dangerously.


	10. 9: Eleven O'clock Visitors

_9: Eleven O'clock Visitors_

Ryou rolled over in his bed, burying his head under the pillow. Someone kept knocking on the café's door and it was really getting annoying.

"Hey, someone lemme in!" a familiar voice called. "It's cold out here!"

"It's eleven o'clock at night… what could she possibly want now?" Ryou groaned, glancing at the clock.

"Whatever it is, we shouldn't keep her waiting," Keiichiro said, appearing in his doorway.

"I swear, if it's something stupid and pointless, I'm going to kill her," the blond mumbled, forcing himself out of bed.

"are you even up? I've been out here knocking for, like, half an hour already!" Nova's voice grew clearer as the two descended the stairs.

"would you keep it down? It's the middle of the night!" Ryou snapped quietly, flinging open the door.

"No its not! It's only 'leven. The middle of the night is midnight, that's why it's called… midnight!" Nova grinned, teetering back and forth on her heels and looking up at the upper levels of the café.

"Oh my god," Ryou hissed. She looked down and a huge grin broke out on her face.

"Ryou!" she screeched, throwing herself at him. "I'm so happy to see you! I haven't seen you in hours! I've missed you so much! Did you miss me?"

"What is wrong with you?" he demanded, pushing her to the ground.

"Everything okay?" Keiichiro inquired.

"Ugh, you reek of booze!" Ryou said, backing away a few steps. "Are you drunk?"

"Nope," Nova shook her head and held up a mostly empty bottle of liquor. "I'm completely hammered!"

"keep it down!" the blond hissed as the American giggled.

"I'll go make some coffee," Keiichiro grinned, walking towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, coffee! That stuff is the bomb! It tastes like swill but I love it!" Nova cried, throwing her arms in the air. "Hurray!"

"Oh my… just, come inside before someone calls the cops on you," Ryou hissed, holding the door open wide for Nova, who crawled in on her hands and knees.

"Did you grow? You're like, super tall now," she giggled, looking up at Ryou. He held out his hand. "what?"

"the bottle, hand it over," he demanded. She handed him the bottle.

"Yay, Ryou's gonna be my drinking buddy!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands and following the blond into the kitchen.

"As if, you lush," he snorted, pouring what was left in the bottle down the drain in the sink.

"Why are you doing that? I would've finished it!" she whined.

"I'm not going to let you drink an entire bottle of booze!" Ryou hissed, throwing the empty bottle in the garbage.

"Yeah, well, I had two before that one so I'm good for… the next three minutes," she giggled.

"you drank three bottles of alcohol?" Ryou barked.

"yes sirree bob, I most surely did," she replied. "why, did you want me to bring you some?" she asked innocently.

"Maybe next time," he grimaced.

"Whatever you say, hot stuff," she patted his shoulder and hopped on the counter. "you know what you should do?"

"Dare I ask what?" he groaned.

"you should be a model," she said firmly, slamming her fist on the counter.

"a model. Really?" Ryou asked. Nova nodded.

"Yeah, a playboy model, only… for girls. I mean, I dunno, guys might be into you too, I'm just saying. Are you bi, by any chance?" she babbled.

"I wish you were a fox right now," he mumbled.

"Ryou, how can you say such a thing? Take me out to dinner first," Nova giggled, blushing.

"As if you aren't enough of a pain when you're sober," he sighed, shaking his head. Keiichiro tried to hide his laughter, but didn't succeed very well. "if you think this is so funny, you deal with her! I'm going back to bed. And you!" he snapped, turning to Nova. "Keep it down or I'll lock you in the freezer for a year!"

"Yessir, righty-oh captain, aye-aye sir, understood!" she chirped, saluting him.

"Obviously not," Ryou sniffed, storming away.

"Here you go," Keiichiro said, handing a mug of steaming coffee to Nova. She took it and took a large gulp, almost instantly spitting it back out.

"Gross!" she coughed. "it's so yucky tasting!"

"I didn't add any sugar or cream because I didn't know how you take it," he smiled.

"Oh, no, this is fine!" she said, quickly drinking what was still in the cup and making a face afterwards.

"Feel better?" he asked taking the cup from her and setting them in the sink. A loud _thump_ sound caught his attention. "nova?" he asked, rushing over to the teenager sprawled across the counter.

"I'm so sleepy…" she giggled weakly. "I've… I've always been able to… to hold my alcohol, but I pass out if I don't get more within… ten minutes…" she rambled as Keiichiro helped her sit up.

"I'm putting you to bed," he replied, picking her up bridal style. "Hang on, okay?"

"Yessir!" she chirped, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You said that you've always been able to hold your alcohol. Have you drank before?" he inquired.

"I was in a gang. Of course I drank before! I got totally wasted my thirteenth birthday," she chuckled. "hey Keiichiro?" she asked softly.

"Yes, Nova?" he answered

"Has anyone ever told you that you're pretty?" she asked.

"No, no one has told me that I'm pretty," he chuckled.

"I think so. I think you're very pretty," she mumbled, resting her head against his neck.

"I think you're pretty drunk," he said, glad the lights were very dim because he was blushing a bit from her complement. "You can sleep in my bed."

"Stay with me," she muttered. "at least until I fall asleep…"

"Okay," he smiled.

"I'm sorry," she apologized as Keiichiro set her down on the bed.

"for what?" he asked.

"For not handling the girl's death better. I could've… bought a box of chocolate, watched depressing movies, and cried into a fluffy pillow. What did I do instead? I got wasted and just barged in here uninvited, bothering you with my not being able to deal with death good… stuff," she sighed shakily.

"It's alright. It's not your fault," he said softly, smoothing her hair out of her face.

"Keiichiro?" she started, rolling on her side so she could look at him. "Can I say something?"

"if you ask me you've been saying quite a bit all evening, but go ahead," he chuckled.

"I love you," she sighed. "you're always so kind and understanding and a good cook. I really like that. I love you."

"that's probably the alcohol talking," he chuckled nervously.

"Maybe so, but it doesn't change my feelings," Nova said gruffly. "I don't care if you feel the same way or not… well, actually I do, but that's kinda beside the point. I feel a bit better now that I've told you. Maybe I won't be so distant when I talk to you now."

"how much you want to bet that you'll remember none of this when you wake up tomorrow?" he asked gently, crouching down and resting his arms on the edge of the bed. She grabbed his hand and turned her grey eyes up to his face, watching to see what he would do.

"I bet my life that I will," she grinned.

"then you're a dead man, making a gamble like that. Go to sleep, I'll see you in the morning," he smiled down at her, patting her head. A second glance revealed that she had fallen asleep, his hand grasped weakly in hers.

Before he could second think himself, he decided to act. Captured by the tenderness of the moment like a fish in a net, he leaned his head closer and brushed his lips against hers. The taste of alcohol was sharp and a bit sweet, laced with the bitterness of coffee and something else. He felt her grip on his hand tighten slightly.

"if it's any consolation, I think I might feel the same," he murmured softly as he pulled away.

* * *

"Ichigo. Ichigo!" someone called quietly, tossing rocks at the bedroom window. Ichigo sighed heavily and went to see who was visiting her at eleven at night. She opened the window and a rcok hit her forehead.

"Dustin, what are you doing?" she hissed.

"sorry, my bad," he apologized, tossing a handful of small rocks and pebbles over his shoulder. "I came to check up on you. Your light's been on way after you normally turn it off and go to sleep so I wanted to make sure you didn't commit suicide or something."

"does it look like I committed suicide?" she hissed, throwing the rock that hit her back down at him.

"Not yet. Let me in, I don't want you alone after what happened," he called. Ichigo rolled her eyes but went downstairs and opened the door.

"You're joking, right?" she asked as he practically pushed his way inside.

"Nope, I've visited everyone except you and Berry. Mint, Lettuce, Pudding, Zakuro, all of them," he chattered. "and before you start the finger-pointing and name calling, I just hung out with them, ate a bunch of junk food and cried with them. No 'favors'."

"Keiichiro and Ryou?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

"nah, they called me to tell me that Nova is staying over at the café tonight because she got drunk and passed out so I think they'll be okay," he grinned.

"She's drunk?" Ichigo asked.

"well, she was. Keiichiro called a few minutes ago saying that Nova had wound up there 'completely hammered' and that she's asleep now. She's gonna have one major hangover tomorrow," he chuckled.

"Why would she get hammered?" she inquired.

"uh, hello? Were you not there with us this afternoon?" he asked, waving a hand in front of her face. "She doesn't deal with death very well. I mean, you wouldn't if you had seen your best friend tortured and killed before your very eyes, right?"

"She watched her friend die?" she asked softly as they went to Ichigo's room. "How awful."

"you ask a lot of questions," he chuckled, sitting on her bed.

Ichigo opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of herself and closed it.

"She hates talking about it more than she hates ruining a photograph when it's still developing, which is a lot, so I'll tell you, but only because you're my friend and teammate… and because the risk of you dying is far greater because of our jobs as Mew Mews," he grinned.

"Is that okay? I mean, she won't have you murdered and thrown in Tokyo Bay?" she asked. Dustin snickered and motioned for her to sit down.

"She was twelve turning thirteen when it happened. Her friend's name was Ringo, having been named after that guy from the Beatles. Ringo Andersen… god, she was gorgeous. She had big, bright blue eyes and long black hair that was so soft and silky to the touch it felt like you were caressing a cloud," he gushed. "They were practically Siamese twins; they did so much stuff together. They were in the same class at school, they spent the night at each other's houses at almost every opportunity, etcetera. But… Ringo had a secret. Her older brothers had basically sold her into their gang to pay off a debt they owed to the boss and she was the gang's slave for oh so many things. She had suckered Nova into joining to ease her suffering. Nova had to start at the very bottom of the group ad work her way up to the top, where Ringo was. Ringo was the boss's… girlfriend isn't the right term… I guess she was like a concubine or a sex slave, there when he needed her, you know?"

"Why was she killed?" Ichigo asked softly.

"Well, one day, it had been revealed that Ringo was pregnant, carrying someone's child. Naturally the boss assumed it was his. He was seventeen and had gotten girls pregnant before, so it was no big deal to him. Nova just had to step forward and say that the child wasn't his. The boss asked whose it was but Ringo refused to give an answer because she knew that he would beat up the child's father or worse. The boss pulled Nova aside and thanked her for catching onto his slave's infidelity. As punishment for fooling around, Ringo was beaten. The gang members attacked her like a crazed lion attacks a gazelle or something: ruthlessly and hungrily. Nova wanted to help her… save her… but she knew the consequences if she did: she would die as well. She had a front row seat to the murder of her best friend and she couldn't do a thing about it," he said, drawing his knees up to his face and hiding it.

"Dustin, are you okay?" Ichigo asked gently.

"would you be okay if you found out that your girlfriend and child had been beaten to death?" he retorted quietly, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"oh Dustin, I'm so sorry!" she said quickly. "I-I'm so sorry…"

"It's fine. There was nothing I could do anyways," he replied dejectedly, rubbing at his face with the back of his hands. Anyways, Nova couldn't believe that Ringo had died, so she found her dad's stash of booze and got wasted. She overdid it though, and got alcohol poisoning. Her life has been relatively harsh, so she doesn't like to talk about it much. I guess that's what I'm for," he chuckled dryly. "I'm the narrator."

"It's not like that. It's not like that, Dustin. You're not just a narrator; you're a very vital character. We wouldn't be able to fight this war without you," she whispered, hugging him as he cried silently. "both you and Nova are needed. Don't waste your time crying about something that can't be undone."

"But it was something I could've prevented," he mumbled. "Ichigo, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Huh? Well, I'm not really sure," she said awkwardly. That was an abrupt change of subject.

"Let me guess," he sniffled. "you're gonna grow up and marry Masaya."

"W-well, something like that, maybe…" she blushed. What would she do when she got out of school? Go to college? But she didn't really have any skills besides saving the world and cooking…

"you could go t a culinary school," he suggested, wiping his eyes. "nova told me about your amazing rice balls."

"What about you? What do you want to do with your life?" she asked, shifting the subject off her shoulders.

"Oh geez, I wanna be a writer, a doctor, an astronomer, a scientist, a father, an uncle, a grandpa, a bus driver, one of those people who push those big mop things at the movie theaters," he rambled. "but mainly a writer. I'm writing a story about a guy who pushed the mop things at the movies who secretly is a doctor trying to save an alien's life and the alien is living with his family."

"That sounds… interesting," Ichigo grinned wryly. "Maybe you can let me read it sometime."

"Maybe," he grinned, ruffling her hair. "I'm gonna go now; you seem to be doing better."

"You sure? You can stay the night if you want to," she offered. She didn't want the American to leave just yet… not quite yet.

"Nah, I gotta smooth things over with Nova's parents. They're really touchy about the thing she had with alcohol. I mean, if your thirteen year old stumbled into your house well after midnight more drunk than a sailor on shore, wouldn't you have a bit of a meltdown? That and I have to convince them that nothing's _happening_ over there, if you get my drift," he grinned again. He made to jump out the window, swinging it open and dangling one leg outside.

"Dustin wait!" she cried, grabbing his arm before he could jump.

"yeah?" he asked, looking at her curiously. Ichigo blushed.

"Um… it's awfully high. You'll get hurt if you jump from up here. Take the stairs like a normal person," she babbled, hiding her eyes beneath her red bangs.

"in case you didn't get the memo, I stopped being normal about a week and a half ago," he chuckled. "And coming from you, that's verging on an insult, Kitty."

"Pardon me for being nice," she huffed, turning away and letting go of his limb. She felt fingers, warm and a bit rough, slide under her chin and turn her head.

"Pardon me for trying to be funny," he retorted before kissing her gently and swiftly. "I'll see you later. Remember that if you think this is bad, there's always someone who has experienced worse."

With that he jumped out the window, landed neatly on the grass and walked towards the fence. Ichigo rushed to the window to watch, though she wasn't sure why. She gazed at his retreating figure, outlined by the large half moon hanging over head. He turned once, glancing over his shoulder, and lifted his hand in a half-wave. Ichigo waved back as he leapt over the fence and began climbing the vines outside an open window. Her fingers found her lips as she blushed faintly. What was that kiss about? It was not just a consoling action, she was sure of that. She could taste something hidden under compassion. What ws it? Curiosity? No, it was too strong to be a fleeting thing like that? Friendship? But that just seemed ridiculous, kissing a friend without demanding or at least expecting more.

Was it love? That seemed… possible. But she had Masaya! She couldn't fall for Dustin! Well… she could, but not without either getting in trouble or feeling awful about it… or both. Relationships could get so complicated and given the circumstances a love triangle was the last thing anyone needed.

Still, she couldn't stop herself from smiling when she fell asleep after the very long day.

* * *

_A/N: Review, please and thank you._


	11. NOTICE!

_10: White Noise and a Photo Display_

"Morning!" Nova chirped when Ichigo and Lettuce walked through the doors of the cafe.

"Who are you and what have you done with my foul mouthed friend?" Ichigo demanded.

"I'm right here, Ichigo. Can't you see that?" Nova grinned.

"She certainly seems happy," Lettuce smiled.

"I have a killer hangover but I'm doing just fine!" the fox girl chirped. She skipped to the kitchen as Ryou and Keiichiro emerged.

"What happened to Nova?" Ichigo asked, slightly scared.

"She got drunk last night as a way to deal with the girl's death and passed out," Ryou snorted. "She just barged in here at eleven at night, screaming at the top of her lungs and waving around a bottle of booze like it was a flag!"

"Not so loud!" Nova wailed as she walked back into the room. "My head feels like it's been beaten with a frozen T-rex."

"Whose fault is that, you lush?" the blond barked. The 'lush' in question cringed and pressed a hand to her head.

"Hey, be glad I didn't kill myself because I felt so crappy about it. I could've done a lot worse things than get wasted," she retorted, dropping a stack of paper on the table before flipping through it.

"What is all that?" Lettuce asked, eyeing the paper covered table.

"Stuff," Nova grinned. "I'm almost done..."

"Done with what?" Ichigo asked.

"You'll see when we open. Just be patient," she smirked. "Any news on Berry? Dustin told me that she wasn't home when he went to check on her yesterday night..."

"I haven't seen her since we split up yesterday afternoon after the battle. Maybe she stayed with Tasuku," Lettuce said.

"Where is Dustin?" Ichigo asked choppily, scratching her cheek.

"I sent him out to get a poster board for me. I can't go out in this state," Nova replied, tapping her head.

"I'm back!" Dustin announced, waving a white square above his head. Nova clutched her head and curled up a bit. "Sorry!" he apologized in a loud whisper. "Here," he said, thwacking her head with the white board.

"Hey, what do you think?" she asked, holding up a small piece of computer paper with a pencil sketching on it. "I finally thought of a name and logo."

"'Vixen Photography'? Sounds kinda suggestive if you ask me..." Dustin mused.

"Girls, what to you think?" Nova asked.

"How cute! It's so... unlike you," Ichigo replied, eyeballing the mostly cursive lettering. The 'n' in 'vixen' was topped with fox ears and the 'y' in 'photography' ended in a bushy fox tail.

"Yeah, well, you people are rubbing off on me, with your cute cafe and your cute uniforms and your cute cuteness," Nova sneered, grimacing.

"I like it," Lettuce smiled. Nova grinned and resumed whatever she had been doing.

"Morning everyone!" Pudding cried as she, Mint and Zakuro entered the room. "What's everyone doing?"

"Wishing you'd keep it down! Haven't you ever had a hangover?" Nova growled, pressing a hand to her head again. "For your information, monkey, it's not fun the morning after you get drunk."

"Aren't you a bit young to be drinking?" Mint inquired.

"Pssht, I've been drinking since I was thirteen," Nova scoffed.

"Thirteen?" Zakuro repeated. "You don't consider that young?"

"Well, twelve turning thirteen, give or take a day or two," she shrugged.

"Why?" Pudding inquired.

"Now is not the time for idle chitchat! We must find out comrade!" Nova pounded her fit on the table. She pressed her hand to her forehead yet again and bit her lip. "Berry is missing and who knows what foul demon has taken her prisoner!"

"Are you sure you're well enough to be part of a search party?" Mint asked skeptically.

"Give me some credit, toothpaste girl," the sniffed.

"Toothpaste? What do you mean by that?' Mint demanded.

"Your name is 'Mint'. My toothpaste is mint flavored, thus making you toothpaste girl," Nova grinned. "Argue all you want; I've got all day."

"Where would we start looking?" Lettuce asked worriedly.

"We could start in Harajuku. She has to pass through there to get to her house coming from Disneyland," Ichigo suggested. "We could ask around and see if anyone's seen her."

"But wouldn't anyone who was around last night be long gone?" Zakuro replied.

"It's our only option," Dustin said firmly, stuffing his hands in his pants pockets.

* * *

"Excuse me; have you seen a girl with long blond hair and brown eyes?" Lettuce asked.

"Have you seen our friend? She looks like this," Ichigo showed someone a photo of Berry.

"Did you see a girl like this last night, by any chance?" Pudding asked, mimicking Ichigo's method.

"Hey, does anyone have an icepack?" Nova parked. "My hangover's not getting any better..."

"Whose fault is that, you lush?" Ryou sniffed.

"Stop calling me a lush!" she replied hotly.

"Now, now, there's no need to bicker. We have more important things on our hands," Keiichiro said firmly, grabbing Nova's wrist and dragging her away from Ryou.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking down at the ground. "Um, Keiichiro?" she started. "About la..."

"I know where you can find your friend," a child's voice interrupted her. They looked down to see a boy no older than eight, with pale blond hair and large green eyes. He wore black shorts and a white button-down shirt with a black collar shaped like bat wings and a small red tie. He also had a black and grey hat with small bat wings perched on top of his carefully coiffed hair.

"Really?" Nova asked, forgetting her hangover for a moment or two.

"Yeah, yeah!" he grinned. "Just listen..." he smirked.

The boy opened his mouth to speak and a horrible noise was emitted. Everyone in the immediate area reacted to the noise, clamping their hands over their ears and/or running away. Nova shrieked and held her head. The noise was earsplitting! Of all days to have a hangover... she couldn't even think, the noise was so awful.

"What is this, white noise?" Ichigo cried over the sound. No wonder Berry was missing. If that boy used this attack on her, she wouldn't stand a chance. All of a sudden the white noise stopped. Ichigo looked up to see a small orange fox biting viciously into the boy's led. He screamed in pain and tried to kick the animal away. The fox released its grip and barked at the boy, blood dripping from its teeth.

"You stupid animal!" the boy cried, clutching his leg. "How dare you bite me? I am a demon of noble blood! Scum like you is not worthy of even being near me!"

"Stop screaming, little boy," Ryou said gruffly, picking up the boy by his collar. "Where is Berry?" he demanded.

"I'll never tell a filthy human like you," the boy spat. "The deaths my father is planning for your pathetic race is far too gracious."

"You're a demon?" Lettuce asked.

"No duh, four eyes. What gave it away?" he snickered darkly.

"Ladies, I believe we have a hostage," Ryou smirked, binding and gagging the boy. He screamed in protest and tried to kick but a hand chop to the back of his neck silenced him. The blond slung the boy over his shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes.

"What good will it do now that he's unconscious?" Ichigo exclaimed. "Now we won't know where Berry is!"

Nova sniffed the air and rubbed her ears. It seemed that her hangover had disappeared when she turned into a fox. That was good, because it allowed her to focus on the issue at hand. She sniffed at the air again until she caught onto Berry's scent, a sort of mixed berry shampoo smell. She scratched Ichigo's leg, trying to get her attention. The redhead glanced down.

"What is it?" she asked. Nova barked once and took off running. "Nova, come back!" she followed the fox down the street to a hotel. "We don't have time for this! We need to find..." she paused when she saw Nova scratching at the door furiously. She looked to Ichigo once and barked, resuming her scratching. It was frustrating being so small; she couldn't do anything on her own. "You're so smart!" Ichigo cried, opening the door. Nova sniffed and rolled her eyes. Well, duh.

Ichigo picked up Nova and pushed toe door open wider. It stuck a bit because it was a side door and clearly hadn't been used in a while. It creaked as it swung open slowly and the two inched inside, wrinkling their noses at the stagnant smell hanging in the air.

"Why do the bad guys always pick run down places as hideouts?" Ichigo asked. Nova barked in agreement and leapt from Ichigo's arms. She padded to the elevator and sat down waiting for Ichigo to come. A pile of boxes fell over, making a loud and sudden noise. Ichigo yelped and a moment later a small black cat stood where she did.

**"That startled me,"** she panted.

**"Well, now we can communicate easier,"** Nova chuckled.

**"Why are we taking the elevator? We'd need to stop at every floor so you can catch her scent," Ichigo** whined.

**"Well, if you wanna waste time and energy climbing who knows how many flights of stairs, be my guest,"** Nova replied, standing up on her hind legs and pressing the 'close door' button with her nose. She jumped and managed to hit the '2' button. The two animals switched between pressing buttons for the next floor each time one was dubbed 'clean'. On the tenth floor, they finally found something. **"This way!"**

The pair paused only once in their race down the hall, when Nova lost the scent for a moment.

**"I can't reach the doorknob," **she sighed, flicking her tail angrily.

**"Kiss me, then I'll get it,"** Ichigo replied.

**"Alright, but you'll wish you were dead if you tell anyone,"** Nova grumbled.

"Don't worry," Ichigo huffed. "Why aren't you back to normal? Well, we can fix that later."

Nova grunted with disdain as Ichigo picked her up and slowly reached out a hand. The doorknob was deathly cold against her skin and the creaking sound that came when the door swung open didn't make her feel any better. The air was stale and carried the scent of old age and decay, though the building itself couldn't be more than twenty years old. The windows were covered by heavy curtains that blocked all light except a small sliver from where the two pieces of fabric were drawn together, but it barely made a dent in the darkness shrouding the room. Ichigo inched slowly into the room, tightening her grip on the fox in her arms. She felt Nova tense and her tail twitched angrily. The door slammed shut suddenly, making Ichigo jump and scream. She stumbled backwards and hit a table, landing hard on her rump. Nova barked angrily, the hair on the back of her neck standing up because of the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

"Who's there?" Ichigo demanded.

A light flickered on, pale orange and rather dim. It only illuminated a small area of the hotel room. Ichigo swallowed the lump forming in her throat. It must be a suite, judging from the size of the room itself, and there was still no sign of Berry.

"Surely you remember me, Ichigo," a sultry voice replied.

Nova growled at the voice, knowing it all too well.

"You..." Ichigo breathed. "You're Nova's brother..."

"I suppose I was, once upon a time. But I've moved on to bigger and better things. Now, let's play a game, shall we? How about hide and seek? Try to find your friend. She's somewhere in this suite," Branden chuckled.

Nova barked at him sharply. He picked her up by the scruff of her neck.

"Ah-ah... you'll have to wait your turn, Vixen," Branden mumbled. "Go on, get up and search. I promise there are no demons waiting in ambush. I wouldn't want to destroy this room. It's so grand, so lavish..."

Ichigo stood up and carefully inched around the room as Branden chattered. There was a large couch in the center of the room, and a flat screen TV across from it with a long coffee table between the two. The dim orange light didn't help much, but she could see the detail in the design of the furniture and decorations scattered around the suite. Had the hotel been up and running, the room must've cost a fortune to stay in, even for a single night.

"Admiring the decor, Kitty? But you're so middle-class, so of course you've never witnessed such splendor firsthand. Of course, things are much grander in Hattunka. If you'd like... I can take you there. Of course, there are a few... circumstances. You may very well have to give up everything you know... your family, your friends... your boyfriend... your power as a Mew Mew, everything," Branden said, following her at a safe distance.

Ichigo let her hand graze the silken bedcovers. She thought she heard whimpering, but that could very well have been Nova, still in Branden's iron grip.

"Stay quiet, Vixen, and you won't get hurt," he hissed, tying a strip of fabric around her snout and another one around her legs. She whimpered faintly as she was thrown to the floor and slid to a halt. There was something nearby, something large and breathing heavily. She somehow managed to turn her body enough to see what it was. Berry slumped against the wall. She was breathing heavily and her clothes were tattered, torn and spotted with blood. Thick ropes bound her arms to her abdomen and a large strip of white cloth covered her mouth. She glanced fearfully at Nova.

"Why would I go there?" Ichigo asked huffily. This hide and seek was starting to irritate her. Something warm and thick snaked around her waist. She realized it was Branden when she heard his breathing near her ear. One hand moved up to grab her breast while the other stroked her thigh.

"Because it's far better than this miserable world now that you humans have taken over and destroyed it. If you come with me, you can have any little thing your heart desires. Riches, jewels, money, you can live a life of luxury," Branden whispered in her ear.

Despite her growing hatred for demons, she had to admit that she was slightly intrigued. Maybe it was the fact that his body was so intoxicatingly close to her own, or the fact that he was groping her, but she was starting to get a little excited. What would happen if she went to live with the demons? Could she stop fighting and killing? He said she could have anything... did he really mean it?

"You only have to give me one simple little thing," Branden continued.

"What's that?" she asked breathily, her back arching involuntarily as he continued to stroke her inner thigh.

"Your innocence," he smirked. She gasped as his hand moved again between her legs.

"Ribbon Golden Symphony!" Dustin's voice echoed as golden light burst into the room. Branden released Ichigo, who fell forwards onto the bed. She brought a trembling hand to her mouth and looked at Branden's writhing body fearfully.

"Are you alright, Berry?" Lettuce inquired, untying her comrade.

"Y-yes... I'm fine... thank you," she panted.

"Did he do anything to you?" Zakuro asked.

"No... he just groped me. There was no damage done," she replied. "But my head is killing me and my ears keep ringing."

"From that little boy, no doubt," Mint snorted.

Nova was untied by Pudding and growled dangerously at Branden.

"Oh my, looks like the party's been crashed. Damn shame, I'll have to come back later... when there's less interference,' Branden chuckled, vanishing into a black puddle on the floor.

"Ichigo, are you okay? You're trembling," Dustin inquired, helping Ichigo to her feet. She clung to his shoulders both for support and out of fear. Hot tears stung her eyes.

"H-he... he..."she stammered, the tears falling down her cheeks.

"It's alright. Don't worry," he said comfortingly, pulling her into a hug. "We'll beat the demons and all this will seem like a bad dream."

"It's not a dream, it's a nightmare," Mint scoffed, folding her arms as she changed back to normal.

* * *

"Welcome... back!" Berry chirped, adding 'back' when she saw Ichigo and Mint come through the front door. "You okay, Ichigo?"

"Yes, I'll be fine!" the redhead grinned. She had gone to the hospital with Berry and Mint shortly after leaving the abandoned hotel, but Berry's wait time had been far shorter than Ichigo's.

"That's good. You've gotta see this!" the rabbit-cat girl grinned.

"What is it?" Ichigo inquired.

She joined her friends where they crowded around what looked like the menu that was usually set up outside the front door. After wiggling her way to the front, she saw it wasn't a menu, but a photo display. There was a picture of Zakuro and Mint having afternoon tea; one of Pudding juggling plates while standing on a ball; a picture of Lettuce when she wasn't breaking and/or dropping something; Ryou and Keiichiro in the kitchen decorating pastries; Berry and Tasuku leaving for a delivery; Dustin pretending to play the guitar while he cleaned up a mess with a mop; Ichigo glancing over her shoulder at Masaya; Nova smirking up at the camera.

"Wow! These are amazing! Where did you get these?" she asked Keiichiro.

"I took them when you people weren't looking," Nova replied, trying to hide a grin. "You can be glaringly oblivious sometimes."

"You took these?" everyone gasped. Dustin chuckled at their reaction.

"Yeah, why are you so surprised? Don't tell me you haven't seen me with my camera," Nova said matter-of-factly.

Oh... now that she thought about it, Ichigo did see Nova with her camera quite a bit.

"I thought I could use the cafe as a base of operations, so to speak. That and I was hired to take photos for the menu," Nova said, pressing a hand to her cheek, which had turned light pink. "You know, advertisements, employee of the month photos, that sort of thing."

"Maybe you're not as bad as you appear," Ichigo chuckled. She was coming to like this girl - attitude aside - very much.

* * *

_**Area 51 1/2**__ 1-17-11: whew, sorry this one took so long! I've been busy with Godsend and unfortunately, I've come across a bit of a roadblock (writer's block) so it might be a while before chapter 8 of HoA comes out. I hope you'll be patient with me._

_And I started another story (about Mustang) so there's that one I can work on when I get sick of Godsend. Along with OR, ALBE, TMM (not Tokyo Mew Mew, The Military's Monster), this one, FMAY (of which chapter 8 has been done since summer vacation last year, I just keep forgetting to update it) and I'm sure there are more._

_Alright, I put this link on the first chapter if HF (Horsefeathers, my Mustang fic) but here it is again, to my DA account. __.com/_

_Until chapter 11!_


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